A Call to Arms
by WildestDreams72394
Summary: No sense in hiding from the front lines; this is a call to arms. Will you embrace me before it's too late? Rosalee Winters fell back in time, escaping a corrupt Ministry. How will this Muggle-born deal with being thrown twenty years into the past, and what will it be like to be a Dumbledore? She wasn't sure that any of this was real, but she's going to enjoy it before she wakes up.
1. Chapter 1

**January 1998**

Rosalee ran for her life, dodging trees and colorful jets of light as she fled from the Snatchers close behind her. Jumping over a fallen tree, Rosalee paused just long enough to levitate the dead tree and swing it at the Snatchers like a cricket bat. It caught several across the chest, knocking them back into the others. Rosalee turned and ran again, not waiting for the Snatchers to get back up again. Her lungs burned, and her legs felt like jelly, but she refused to slow down.

Out of the darkness of the forest ahead of her, a large, gray wolf leaped toward Rosalee. Unwilling to find out if the wolf was a true wolf or a werewolf, she turned to her right, avoiding some sort of thorny bush and sprinted away as the wolf gave chase. By the time the Snatchers caught up and began firing spells at her again, Rosalee could hear the thudding of the wolf's paws on the ground as it ran after her and hear the panting of its breath. Her foot slipped on a patch of ice, and she fell hard on the cold ground. Rolling onto her back, she screamed in terror as the wolf lunged for her throat. As she tried to defend herself, the wolf's teeth missed their mark, its snout hitting the ground hard enough to make the wolf growl, leaving nothing but slobber and its hot breath on her neck. Its paws clawed at her skin, ripping her clothes along with her flesh. Finally aiming her wand at the wolf properly, she shrieked, "Imperio!"

Suddenly, the wolf jumped off Rosalee, docile as a Labrador puppy. As Rosalee caught sight of the Snatchers beginning to surround her, she fought hard to keep control over the wolf — whom she was now certain was actually a werewolf — as she turned her newly gained weapon against her enemies. The wolf quickly tore open one man's throat before attacking the woman beside him. Spells flew at her, and a Cruciatus Curse caught her in the chest, sending the charm on a chain around her neck spinning. She bit her lip until it bled, fighting against the surprisingly brief pain of the Unforgivable Curse until it was over. Obviously, whoever it was who cast the dark spell didn't know what they were doing. The next Cruciatus Curse hit her in the back, sending her to the ground thrashing and screaming in pain, cast by a witch or wizard with some actual skill in the Dark Arts. Her control over the wolf snapped, and it turned once again to Rosalee, drooling as it took its time stalking towards its defenseless prey. The wolf lunged for her throat as the charmed necklace stopped spinning, and Rosalee vanished before the wolf could sink its teeth into her skin.

* * *

 **August 1977**

Rosalee's shrieks stopped after the first few minutes as she found herself watching time reverse itself. By the time everything stopped spinning around her, she was laying on the ground of the forest in the early morning light feeling dizzy, nauseated, and weak. When the world began to feel solid again, Rosalee slowly stood up and, not knowing what else to do, she apparated to Hogsmeade. As soon as she reappeared behind the Hog's Head, she regretted her choice, falling to her hands and knees and vomiting on the ground violently. After she finished, she stood back up and raised her wand, ready to defend herself if necessary. Creeping carefully out from behind the Hog's Head, she saw no signs of danger; in fact, the village looked more like itself than it had since the Battle at the Department of Mysteries. Rosalee skirted around the edges of the village until the alluring smell of food proved too much to resist. Rosalee stepped inside the Three Broomsticks, hoping that Madame Rosmerta was feeling particularly charitable at the moment, as Rosalee's small stash of money, both wizarding and Muggle, had run out months ago. Instead, she froze when she saw Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall sitting together at the bar, eating breakfast, and chatting with Madame Rosmerta. Dumbledore's long gray beard wasn't quite as long as usual, though, and there were streaks of auburn in his gray beard. McGonagall had only a streak or two of gray in her dark hair, still pulled into a tight bun as usual. Madame Rosmerta couldn't have been much older than Rosalee, and she fumbled slightly as she poured Dumbledore and McGonagall's pumpkin juice, as if she wasn't used to pouring drinks quite yet. Rosalee squeaked, covering her mouth with her hands as her hazel eyes grew wide. Dumbledore looked at her, his blue eyes concerned as he took in the results of six months on the run from Aurors and Snatchers on Rosalee's appearance. "Can we help you, young lady?" Dumbledore asked softly.

While the rest of the world sounded muffled to Rosalee, Dumbledore's voice rang loudly and clearly in her ears. She stuttered, "But – but you —" She couldn't see quite right anymore, and the room seemed to suddenly grow very hot. Everything went black as Rosalee fell to the floor, unconscious.

When Rosalee awoke, she found herself in the familiar setting of Hogwarts' Hospital Wing. She furrowed her brow in confusion, trying to remember how she'd ended up there. Then she remembered the Snatchers and the werewolf in the forest, and her Time-Turner suddenly pulling her back in time, seemingly farther than she would have ever dared to try. She normally only ever used the Time-Turner after the Snatchers had gotten too close to catching her for comfort in order to escape, sending herself back an hour or two to give herself the chance to get away from where she knew the Snatchers would be before they got there. Rosalee groaned as she opened her eyes, still not believing that she had seen Dumbledore in the Three Broomsticks earlier. Surely it was a hallucination… She couldn't remember the last time she'd had something to eat; she was malnourished and dehydrated, so it would have been easy enough for her to imagine.

Rosalee's eyes landed on Dumbledore standing at the foot of the bed next to hers as she sat up slowly and yelped in surprise and fear. She grabbed her ebony wand off the nightstand and pointed it at him, curling up as close to the wall as she possibly could. She snapped, "Who are you, and are you willing to take Veritaserum to prove it?"

Dumbledore looked amused and aloof, but his eyes betrayed his seriousness. "My name is Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, and I would certainly be willing to take Veritaserum to prove it. What might your name be, young lady?"

Rosalee shook her head. "I don't think so," she growled. "You're going to have to prove you're really the Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore before you get any information out of me."

Dumbledore nodded, admiring her spunk. "Very well then," Dumbledore replied. "Poppy," Dumbledore called to Madame Pomfrey. "Please go ask Professor Slughorn to bring me a vial of Veritaserum, and have one of the house elves bring me a cup of tea to put it in." Madame Pomfrey nodded and quickly left the Hospital Wing for the dungeons. Upon her return with Professor Slughorn and one of the house elves, Dumbledore combined a few drops of the potion with the tea and drank it. "Now, young lady," Dumbledore said with a small smile. "Ask your questions."

Rosalee's eyes narrowed suspiciously at the people surrounding her, all of them looking so much younger than usual. "What's your name?" she asked.

"Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore," he answered as he moved to sit on the foot of her bed.

Rosalee bit her lip, concerned by what that might mean for her. "What year is it?" she asked softly.

Dumbledore watched Rosalee, a curious spark in his eye. "It is August of 1977. Has the date changed recently for you?"

Rosalee shuddered. "You could say that." She pulled the Time-Turner off her neck. "I'm not sure what happened," she said softly. "But my Time-Turner got hit by something, a weak Cruciatus Curse I'm guessing, and it sent me back way farther than it was ever meant to be able to go."

Dumbledore took the object when Rosalee offered it to him, inspecting it carefully with a critical eye. The hourglass was cracked slightly. Dumbledore looked back up at her and asked, "Where did you get this?"

Rosalee fidgeted nervously. "There was a battle in the Department of Mysteries two years ago. Well, it was two years ago for me. It technically hasn't happened yet I guess. Anyway, the time turners all got destroyed in a sense, but I sort of managed to nick one in the heat of things by accident. I hadn't intended on taking it and considered taking it back, but I figured it'd be useful to have in case things got too bad. Things got too bad, and more than once I barely escaped with my life, but only because of this thing. It saved me earlier from a pretty horrible mess by bringing me back here, but… I'm not sure how it managed to bring me back this far, to be honest."

Dumbledore nodded. "I see," he said thoughtfully as he continued to examine the broken Time-Turner. "I believe that it is safe to say that you will most likely not be returning to your original time. When was that, to be precise?"

Rosalee answered quietly, "Either December 1997 or January 1998. When you're living on the run, it's hard to keep track of the date."

Dumbledore looked over at her. "What were you on the run for, Miss —? "

"Rosalee Winters," Rosalee answered, finally remembering to relax and lower her wand, an action that made Professor Slughorn, who looked on from across the room with interest, look quite relieved. "I'm a Muggle-born, and the Ministry of Magic has been… or will be? I don't know. Anyway, where I'm from, they're locking away Muggle-borns of all ages in Azkaban, calling us dangerous thieves who steal wands and magical powers from real witches and wizards."

Dumbledore frowned. "Does that mean that we failed to defeat Voldemort and that he has taken over Wizarding Britain?"

Rosalee shrugged. "Not exactly," she answered slowly. "Look, I wasn't officially a part of the Order of the Phoenix, but I was close to some of the kids who were, or were close to it, and I fought alongside them. Voldemort was defeated and stayed that way for nearly fifteen years, but at the end of my fourth year, he came back. Two and a half years later, he practically owned the Ministry. I don't have a clue how he came back, all I know is that… well, I honestly don't know anything helpful enough to be worth telling you about. All I know is that my life isn't worth a Knut back in my own time."

Dumbledore patted her foot gently, then said, "Well, that is certainly not the case here. Are you supposed to still be in school at Hogwarts?"

Rosalee nodded, still struggling to believe that any of this was real. "I was supposed to be a seventh year Gryffindor this year," she mumbled.

Dumbledore answered brightly, "Well, then tomorrow, which will be September 1, 1977, you will return to school as a seventh year Gryffindor. Perhaps Rosalee Winters is not the best name to return under, however, considering that your future self, or I suppose to you it would be the past, likely still exists. We cannot risk anyone finding out that you are from the future." Dumbledore thought about the situation for a few moments as Rosalee nodded, then waited expectantly for the headmaster's solution. Dumbledore said, "Perhaps you should pose as Aberforth's granddaughter. Did my future self ever tell you about Aberforth?"

Rosalee turned red, slightly embarrassed. "Well, no, not personally," she muttered. "There was this woman though, she wrote a book about you, and it was pretty popular. I read what I could of it while hiding from Snatchers, when I could stop running long enough to even consider reading, so I sort of already know all about Aberforth and Ariana."

Dumbledore nodded, the expression on his face never changing, but guilt and sadness lingered behind his eyes. "Ah, I see," he said softly. After a moment, he seemed to recover and continued, "Well, no matter. All the better then. I will talk to my brother Aberforth and convince him to claim to the world that you are his granddaughter, making you Rosalee Dumbledore. You'll stay in Gryffindor, of course. If you'd like, you can spend the night in the tower tonight. It's ready for students, seeing as they all return tomorrow."

Rosalee nodded. "Thank you, sir. I'd — I'd like that very much."

A few hours later, after Madame Pomfrey had finally finished healing her last injury — a sprained ankle — Rosalee laid on her bed in the girls' Gryffindor dormitory, listening to a Frank Sinatra record on the wireless, thinking about the insanity of her situation. Even in the wizarding world, such huge leaps of time travel were unheard of, and usually, any who attempted it were severely damaged or killed due to its affects. So far, the only side affect that Rosalee could determine was severe nausea, as though she were having the worst stomach bug of her life. Madame Pomfrey had argued that Rosalee should stay in the Hospital Wing for the night, but Dumbledore had deemed it unnecessary. The house elf who had brought Dumbledore the tea for his Veritaserum, Veeney, had happily attended to Rosalee's every need on Dumbledore's instructions. The house elf had held the girl's hair back as she threw up in the toilet, given her butterbeer and crackers to settle her stomach, then repeated the process more times than Rosalee could count. Now the girl lay in bed, her stomach not quite so upset anymore, listening to the wireless that Veeney had brought her. Rosalee was narrowing her eyes at the way her hands were shaking and the feeling of her head and face being on fire while the rest of her body was cold under the red blankets of her bed.

Veeney popped back into the dorm along with several other house elves, bringing along with them a large trunk, which was deposited at the foot of her bed. The other house elves apparated away, but Veeney remained behind. "Headmaster asked Veeney to bring you this trunk," the little female house elf said cheerily. "Headmaster bought all your school supplies and clothes and such. Everything Missy Rose could want."

Rosalee smiled at the house elf from where she lay and said softly, "Thank you, Veeney. I'll be sure to thank Dumbledore too when I see him tomorrow."

Veeney tilted her head to one side, her large ears flopping comically. "How is Missy Rose feeling?" Veeney asked worriedly. "Is Missy Rose's tummy still giving trouble?"

Rosalee shook her head. "No, but I think I have a fever. I think there's still Pepper-Up Potion in my book bag though from the last few months," Rosalee said thoughtfully. She waved her wand and mumbled, "Accio Pepper-Up Potion."

It took a few moments for the potion to work its way out of Rosalee's bag, but the potion soon flew into her hand. She drank the potion greedily as Veeney asked, "Is there anything else that Missy Rose needs that Veeney could get?"

Rosalee thought for a moment, then answered, "No, I'll be all right. I think I'm just going to get some sleep. It's been far too long since…" She trailed off, then shook her head. "But that's not important I suppose. You're absolutely fine, Veeney. Go, enjoy your night. I'll call you if I really need anything else."

Veeney nodded, then apparated away. Rosalee rested her head on the soft, fluffy pillow, feeling the Pepper-Up Potion beginning to work its magic, and sighed contentedly. She still wasn't sure that any of this was truly real, but even if it wasn't, she was going to enjoy it fully before she woke up surrounded by Snatchers again, or being mauled by a transformed werewolf.

Hours later, Rosalee woke up screaming bloody murder, drenched in sweat. Her blankets were mostly dumped on the floor, and her wand had (fortunately for the bed curtains) fallen on the floor along with the blankets. She fumbled for it blindly, certain that she was about to die at any second, before she suddenly fell out of the bed, hitting her head on the nightstand in the process. "Ouch!" she exclaimed indignantly, but she forgot the pain in her head when she spotted the Gryffindor lion on the blankets that her wand was laying carelessly on top of. Rosalee grabbed up her wand quickly and cried, "Lumos!" The room was instantly illuminated in the blue light of her wand, and she recognized it as the Gryffindor dormitory. Tears sprang to her eyes as she realized that the day she had spent at Hogwarts some twenty years prior to her usual reality had been all too real as well. "Accio Lyle," the girl mumbled through the tears, and a teddy bear sized stuffed elephant flew out of her backpack into Rosalee's waiting arms. She hugged the elephant named Lyle tightly to her chest, taking comfort in the familiarity of the stuffed animal and the way it smelled like home. Though it was four in the morning, Rosalee sat crying like that for two hours, mourning the loss of everything and everyone good she had ever known and worrying endlessly about the new obstacles she would have to face in this First Wizarding War, before she finally calmed herself down. She climbed back into the bed, taking Lyle, her wand, and the blankets with her, settling down and eventually falling back asleep.

Dumbledore had informed her earlier in the day at lunch in the Great Hall that Rosalee's cover story had been secured. She would be Aberforth Dumbledore's recently discovered granddaughter, Albus's great niece, who had grown up in France and been homeschooled, as her parents frequently took her with them on their travels to a dragon reservation in Romania. Rosalee had been sent to live with Aberforth when her parents had both died in a tragic run-in with one of the dragons from the reservation. She had been sorted over the summer into Gryffindor and would be a seventh year. Her O.W.L.s had been entered into her permanent records with the marks that she had told Dumbledore she had received as a fifth year, only bumping up her marks in one class — Arithmancy — from Poor to Acceptable. It was the only class Rosalee hadn't gotten Outstanding or Exceeds Expectations in, and that was only because she didn't spend as much time studying for it as she had every other subject. Having a solid background story to tell people had made Rosalee slightly less nervous about the Welcome Feast that night, but the anxiety returned in full force when she remembered the likelihood of running into the younger versions of many of the adults she had known, known of, or had been attacked by in her time.

When the Welcome Feast arrived, Rosalee managed to blend easily into the crowd of students, dressed for the first time in what felt like ages in a Gryffindor uniform. She slipped in to sit at the Gryffindor table, seemingly unnoticed. It wasn't until people began to sit around her that Rosalee realized that a few Gryffindors had definitely noticed her. A boy with black curls and stunning gray eyes slid into the seat across from Rosalee, and she nearly choked on her own breath when she recognized it to be young Sirius Black. The Gryffindor boy leaned forward and said flirtatiously, "Well, hello, there, you pretty little witch. How is it that I've never noticed a bird as pretty as you sitting at our house's table before?"

Rosalee blushed bright red and couldn't help but gape at Sirius. It wasn't as though it was the first time a guy had ever flirted with her — in fact, she and Seamus Finnigan had developed quite the flirtation by sixth year, even snogging a few times, the first of which being when they were caught together under the mistletoe at Slughorn's Christmas party (which Rosalee still firmly believed had not been the accident Seamus would like her to believe it was), and she and George Weasley had dated in fifth year before he left school to open Weasley Wizard Wheezes. Sirius's flirting had barely even phased her; it was the fact that it was Sirius Black, young, healthy, and happy, that had Rosalee staring open-mouthed at the boy across from her. She felt someone slide into the seat on her left and could feel their laughter. Another familiar voice teased, "Padfoot, ease up on the poor girl. Look at her, she's so stunned by your charm that she can't even speak."

Rosalee turned to stare at the brown-haired boy beside her and saw the green eyes of a young Remus Lupin staring back at her, also looking far younger and healthier than Rosalee had ever seen him. She continued to stare at Remus, her jaw still dropped, for another moment until she felt a large, gentle hand from behind her push her mouth closed and felt hot breath on her right ear as the boy who had taken the seat on her right side whispered in her ear in his most seductive voice, "It's not polite to stare, kitten."

Rosalee frowned, not recognizing this voice, and turned quickly to see Harry Potter staring back at her smugly, his fingers still under her chin. Closer inspection made her realize that it wasn't Harry, but rather his father, James. Suddenly, she realized that she was slowly leaning towards James, her chin still captured in his grip, as though she were about to kiss him. As her mind processed the new information, she pulled back suddenly, yanking her face away from James's hold, but overcorrecting and falling backward against Remus's strong shoulder. The boys laughed as Peter Pettigrew sat down on Sirius's right, Rosalee's left. Sirius drawled, "I think we're just a little too sexy for this little witch to handle."

Rosalee huffed as she sat back up straight with a helpful push from Remus, and replied to Sirius coolly, "Oh, that's not it at all. It's more that I'm stunned that with inflated egos such as yours that you haven't floated up to the ceiling by now."

Remus and James howled with laughter, delighted with the change in Rosalee as she adjusted to dealing with the Marauders. Not that it was much different than handling Fred and George, especially if Sirius got around the twins. Sirius chuckled less heartily than the others but recovered from the blow to his ego easily enough. "Oh, love, if only you could see what that huge ego is being weighed down by, then you'd understand," he replied easily, winking at her.

Rosalee laughed. "Oh, is that so?" she replied. "Because it's always been my experience that large egos are typically overcompensating for something very important being, well, less than satisfying."

James and Remus could have died laughing, while Peter looked scandalized and Sirius turned bright red, sputtering in his attempts to invent a proper come-back. James had to lay his head in his arms on top of his empty plate to calm himself down as the Sorting Hat began his song and the first years were sorted. Dumbledore stood and gave a short speech, introduced the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Cahal Artemyn, then released the students to dig into the feast. Remus asked, "So, mysterious Gryffindor girl, would you please tell us your name and explain why we've never seen you until today before Sirius has an aneurism?"

James laughed. "Honestly, Padfoot, calm down. It's just a bird; you're panting like a bloody dog," he ribbed.

Rosalee laughed as Sirius made a barking noise, then suddenly turned and licked Peter's face, making the chubby boy blanch. Rosalee wrinkled her nose, turning her attention to the amused face of Remus Lupin. "My name is Rosalee Dumbledore," she answered.

"Like Professor Dumbledore?" Peter asked curiously.

Rosalee smiled softly, which turned into laughing as Sirius exclaimed, "Good old Dumbly! Who knew the old man had it in him? So, what, are you like his granddaughter or something?"

Rosalee shook her head. "No, his great niece," she replied. "I'm his brother's granddaughter."

James asked as he piled his fork with pot roast, "So why haven't you gone to Hogwarts before if you're related to our delightful headmaster?"

As James stuffed his mouth, Rosalee answered, the lie leaving her stomach churning, "My parents lived in France; my mother was French. I was homeschooled because they so often commuted to Romania."

Sirius asked curiously, "So why are you here now then?"

Sirius stuffed his face with shepherd's pie, Rosalee shifted uncomfortably as she lied, "They died over the summer. A dragon got loose at the dragon reservation they worked at, and they were killed."

The boys surrounding Rosalee grew solemn. Remus placed a comforting hand on Rosalee's shoulder, saying softly, "I'm sorry, Rosalee. That's awful."

Rosalee shrugged, unshed tears stinging her eyes as she thought about her true parents that she had been forced to leave behind as she fled for her life, defenseless Muggles that for all she knew may have been murdered in their efforts to protect her, or simply because of a lack of knowledge of where she had hidden herself. Rosalee mumbled, "It's all right."

Sirius tilted his head to the left slightly, reminding Rosalee slightly of a curious dog, which made her smile a little as she thought of the Animagus's fitting animal form. Sirius suggested, "Well, we were planning on throwing a party in the common room for some of the older Gryffindors, and between Moony the prefect and Prongs the Head Boy we know it won't get shut down early unless McGonagall stumbles upon it, so how about you join us? There's going to be plenty of junk food and firewhiskey to go around."

Rosalee paused, remembering the last party she had been to. It had been to celebrate Gryffindor's win of the Quidditch Cup. She and Seamus had ended up on one of the couch's together snogging their brains out, the night she had finally realized that she was falling in love with the Irishman. Her heart ached as she realized that she would most likely never see or kiss Seamus again, and she had never gotten the chance to tell him how she felt, despite the fact that she was fairly certain he felt the same way. She shook her head, snapping herself out of her reverie, then answered quietly, "Sure, sounds great."

Three hours later, the party in the Gryffindor common room was in full swing. Rosalee found herself sitting alone in a corner of the room, her back to the wall so she could see the entire room, including the entrance to the tower, nursing a bottle of firewhiskey. Her hands shook slightly as the loudness of the crowd and the booming of the music that played increased her nerves. Rosalee hadn't been around other people, much less a large crowd like this, who hadn't been trying to kill her in ages, and she wasn't quite sure how to conduct herself in this strange new reality, so she instead chose to place herself in the most strategically optimal corner of the room out of habit and let herself drink alone. She had sat in that spot for around an hour when Remus came over and sat down beside her. He smiled at her as he sat down, and Rosalee couldn't help but find his younger, but still familiar, face comforting. Rosalee nodded at him, and his smile broadened. "Hey, Rosalee," he called above the music. "Why so alone?"

Rosalee shrugged. "Large crowds make me nervous. Not being able to hear myself think makes me even more nervous," she answered honestly.

Remus nodded. "Yeah, I get that," he replied easily. "These parties are fun, but usually a bit too loud for me." Rosalee smirked to herself as she imagined that the young werewolf's sense of hearing was probably heightened due to his lycanthropy; Remus probably wasn't much more comfortable at the party than she was. She drank a generous amount of the remaining firewhiskey, and Remus asked, "Do you want to get away from this? Sirius likes to think that anything can be fixed by copious amounts of alcohol and large groups of people, but I've always found a friend or two and some peace and quiet suit me better."

Rosalee thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "Sounds great," she said loudly. She stood up to follow Remus wherever he led her, surprised when she felt a rush of heat run down her spine and stumbled slightly, Remus easily catching her by the elbow and setting her on her feet properly. He smiled in amusement as her face turned red. "Sorry, guess I've had a little more firewhiskey than I thought," Rosalee apologized.

Remus laughed softly, and Rosalee more felt his laughter vibrating through his hold on her elbow than heard it as he gently led her to the stairs up to the boys' dormitories. He answered easily as they climbed the stairs, "It's all right. Sirius and James get much worse. I doubt you'll want to go to your dorm tonight; Lily will be up there complaining and throwing an absolute fit over this, but James is Head Boy, so the fact that she's Head Girl doesn't hold as much sway over him and his antics as she probably hoped. I'll happily let you stay in my bed tonight and take one of the couches in the common room after things quiet down though."

As Remus talked, the volume of his voice gradually decreased as the music in the common room slowly grew quieter as they climbed up to the top of the stairs, where the Marauders' dorm awaited their arrival. Rosalee let herself lean lightly against Remus's shoulder as he paused to open the door. "Yeah, I don't think I'm ready to face Lily Potter just yet if she's going to be like that," Rosalee mumbled.

Remus laughed. "James's last name is Potter," he corrected. "Lily's is Evans, although I'm sure James would probably die of happiness to hear his name attached to her."

Rosalee's mouth fell open, horrified at her slip of the tongue. "Oops," she said softly, unable to think of anything else to say.

Remus smiled as he directed her to sit down on his bed. "It's all right," he said as he gently took the nearly empty bottle of firewhiskey from Rosalee's hand. Rosalee frowned at the loss of her drink but didn't comment. Remus set it on the nightstand and sat down on the bed beside her. "How are you doing?" he asked.

Rosalee shrugged. "Everything's different," she began slowly. "Everyone I ever knew is gone, or…" she paused, managing to stop herself from revealing too much this time. "It's just different," she sniffed, holding back a sudden onslaught of tears. She knew that Professor Dumbledore had told her not to worry about whether or not she changed things, that most likely things were already so different that the world she grew up in was gone and would never be, so she should just live her life and be happy. It was hard to think that things would never happen the way they had in her life to the people she knew and loved, though. Some things she was grateful could be different, but others worried her.

Remus nodded as though he understood what she meant. "How long has it been since they died?" he asked, tenderly placing a hand on her knee.

Rosalee answered, "I don't know. Feels like it was just yesterday. This is just…" She shook her head. "Everything's new, but it all still feels the same. Everything's just messed up."

Remus patted her knee, unsure of how to comfort the girl with chin length hair the color of wheat. "I'm sorry," he said as reassuringly as he could. "Is there anything my friends or I can do to help?"

Rosalee thought for a moment. "Sirius is a huge flirt, isn't he?" she asked curiously.

Remus laughed softly. "He's an odd one, but yeah, you could say that," he answered. "He flirts with everyone, including James and me sometimes, but he never means it. He gets very, well, serious, when he's actually interested in someone. Sure, there's still flirting, but there's just a different tone to it. If he ever means it, you'll know."

Rosalee nodded. "Ok," she breathed. "Can you just convince him to keep the play flirting to a minimum? I'd hate to have to hex him."

"I think I can manage that," Remus replied when he finished laughing before giving Rosalee a hug.

* * *

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Lots of Love,

WildestDreams72394


	2. Chapter 2

**September 1977**

Rosalee thrashed about in the bed, screaming bloody murder as she woke up, grabbing her wand from under her pillow and throwing a Killing Curse into the empty air above her. The curse hit the bed curtains, setting them on fire. The fire was doused a mere moment later, the water that put out the fire also soaking Rosalee in the process. Rosalee shrieked when the water poured over her, lighting the room with her wand. Hands found her shoulders, and Rosalee heard a gentle voice shushing her. Tears began to build in her eyes as she hyperventilated. Rosalee gasped for air as she heard the voice say, "Rosalee, calm down; it's just a nightmare. Just breathe; please just breathe."

There was a slightly familiar timbre to the voice, and Rosalee pulled away from the arms wrapped around her to look into the face belonging to the strong, soothing arms. She squealed again when she recognized Sirius's face, scooting away from him until she was pressed up against the headboard, wand pointed at him. "No, no, no, no," Rosalee stammered fearfully. "The — the Sn-snatchers, and the — the… dead, it can't be… th-this can't be r-real."

Sirius frowned, and Rosalee suddenly noticed James, Peter, and another boy she didn't know standing behind him, watching her like she was crazy. She was beginning to think she just might actually be crazy. Sirius slowly reached a hand toward her, his movements barely even noticeable as slow as they were. His movements reminded Rosalee of the way the animal shelter she had volunteered at between fifth and sixth year had taught her to deal with shy dogs — it was as though he worried that if he got too close too quickly, she might bite him. Sirius murmured softly, "Rosalee, what's wrong? It was just a nightmare. Whatever it was, it's gone now. You're safe; it'll be ok."

Rosalee lowered her wand, glancing around nervously. James waved his wand at her and murmured under his breath, the action putting Rosalee even more on edge. She gasped when the water she was drenched in disappeared, leaving her completely dry again. Rosalee tried to put on a brave face for the boys surrounding her but couldn't help the tremor shaking her entire body. Sirius waved the other boys away. "You guys go on back to bed; I've got this."

The other boys scattered as Sirius crawled onto the bed cautiously, watching Rosalee's face for any signs that he was unwelcome. Finding none, Sirius crawled up to sit under the covers beside her, shutting the curtains with a wave of his wand and soundproofing the curtains so that no sounds would escape the bed and disturb the rest of the room. Sirius wrapped his arms around Rosalee, and she melted into him, sobs racking her body as she cried on his shoulder. "Shh, shh, it's ok," he whispered in her ear. "It's ok. None of it was real. You're completely safe here; I promise."

Rosalee whimpered into Sirius's shoulder, "Where's Lyle?"

Sirius frowned in confusion. "Who?"

Rosalee instantly began rummaging through the disheveled blankets in search of her stuffed animal. Unable to find it, not yet remembering that the elephant was in her dorm room and she was not, Rosalee began biting her lip, whining softly as anxiety ate away at her. Sirius pulled her back to him, tenderly brushing wild strands of hair out of her face as she whispered, "He's my stuffed elephant, my best friend. I need Lyle."

Sirius said softly, "Well, that's easily fixed. Accio Lyle." He waved his wand in the direction of the door. "Now," he continued. "Are you all right? That must've been quite a nightmare for you to wake up tossing around Unforgivable Curses."

Rosalee answered slowly, "I'm sorry. Everything is just… It's just getting to me, invading my dreams…"

Rosalee let Sirius pull her into his lap, jumping slightly when she felt the hair on his legs brush against her own bare legs, only just realizing that Sirius was wearing nothing but a pair of boxers, while she wore nothing but a t-shirt of Remus's. She stiffened but still allowed Sirius to hold her. He asked, "Is it your parents' deaths that's bothering you?"

Rosalee relaxed slightly into him, resting her head against his chest. "Yeah, I guess so. I — I was there. I saw the dragon. I barely escaped. But it's not just that. Honestly, I just don't really want to talk about it, if that's ok."

Sirius nodded, then squeezed her reassuringly. Just then, Lyle flew into the room and bumped into the bed curtains. Sirius reached outside the curtains and grabbed the stuffed animal, pulling it inside and presenting it to the upset girl. She gasped, clearly delighted in having the stuffed animal returned to her in her hour of need, and snatched it out of his grasp and hugged it to her chest as tightly as she could. Sirius asked softly, "Do you think you'll be ok to go back to sleep?"

Rosalee sighed, then buried her face in the crook of his neck. "No."

Sirius smoothed her hair as he asked softly, "Do you want me to stay here with you?" Rosalee thought about it for a few moments, unsure of just how close she wanted to get to the younger version of the escaped convict and Order of the Phoenix member that she had only met the night he died. Finally, she nodded against his shoulder. Sirius whispered, "All right, then let's lay down and try to get you some sleep, ok?"

Rosalee said faintly, "Ok."

Sirius lifted the covers a bit so that they could settle down, then waved his wand and muttered, "Accio Dreamless Sleep Potion." The purple potion flew easily across the room from Sirius's nightstand and into his hand. He stopped Rosalee from laying down quite yet and offered her the potion. "Take this. It'll keep you from having any more nightmares, just nice, peaceful sleep." Rosalee took the potion from Sirius and drank it hesitantly, only drinking about half the potion before handing it back to him. Sirius sat it on the nightstand, then the two laid down to go back to sleep. Sirius wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly to his chest and nuzzling her hair with his nose. After a few minutes passed, Rosalee heard Sirius quietly singing to her something that sounded like a lullaby that she wasn't familiar with. She assumed it was some lullaby from the wizarding world that she didn't know. That was the last thing she was aware of before she drifted back off to sleep.

* * *

Rosalee woke up to the sound of a male voice saying, "Padfoot, please tell me that you didn't."

She felt the pillow beneath her move as she heard an amused snort, and it took her a few moments to process that her pillow was actually Sirius's chest. Sirius said suggestively, "Moony, she's the one who didn't want me to leave. Not my fault she chose your bed."

Rosalee groaned. "Don't be a git," she mumbled sleepily, still not opening her eyes. "Be nice to Moony."

Remus gaped openmouthed at Rosalee's use of the nickname, but Sirius barked out a loud laugh that vibrated through his chest. The feeling of Sirius's laughter under her cheek made Rosalee smile, though she still refused to open her eyes. Sirius teased, "Oh, don't look so shocked, Remus. It's not as though we don't use those nicknames in front of everyone all the time." Remus narrowed his eyes at his friend but closed his mouth. Sirius nudged Rosalee as he asked, "Feeling better this morning? How'd you sleep after I gave you that potion?"

Rosalee reluctantly opened her eyes and looked up at Sirius's grinning face. "Yeah, I think so," she replied. "I didn't have any more dreams, so I guess that means I slept well."

Remus raised an eyebrow at Sirius. James walked out of the bathroom then, clapping Remus on the shoulder as he passed. "Rosalee set your bed curtains on fire last night," James informed Remus.

Shocked, Remus queried, "Wait; Rosalee, you did what?"

Rosalee sighed as she felt Sirius's chuckle pulsate through his chest. She glanced over at Remus and answered, "I was having a nightmare. I guess I didn't realize when I woke up I was somewhere safe, and, well…"

James walked past Remus again, buttoning his uniform shirt as he said casually, "She woke up throwing around Killing Curses and set the bloody bed curtains on fire in the process. I had put them out by soaking the whole bed with water. You really missed one hell of a night, Remus."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "She let loose one Killing Curse, nothing more. She thought she was being attacked by a dragon and no harm came from it; cut her some slack."

"Sorry, Remus," Rosalee apologized, picking up Lyle from where he lay behind her and squeezing him, focusing her eyes on his soft gray fur.

Remus shrugged. "It's all right. Come on, though. You'd better get over to your dorm and get dressed. You don't want to miss breakfast."

Rosalee nodded, sitting up. She was about to get out of the bed when she remembered she was only wearing Remus's shirt. Sirius laughed at the look on her face. "What's the matter, love?" he teased, a mischievous smirk on his face.

Rosalee rolled her eyes, forcing herself to get out from under the covers in spite of her state of undress and grabbed her uniform off the floor, taking it into the bathroom to change. She dressed quickly and reentered the main room, where the Marauders all stood around waiting for her. Remus crossed the room and stood in front of her, asking softly, "Do you want to go up to your dorm for anything? Or would you like to take the elephant to breakfast with you?"

Rosalee's cheeks burned bright red, then she mumbled, "Umm, I guess he'll be safe up here, yeah?"

Remus smiled. "Of course. You can just leave it on my bed and come back to get it later." Rosalee placed Lyle gently on the bed, then followed the boys down to the Great Hall for an uneventful breakfast.

* * *

Later that morning, Rosalee was reading a book on Transfiguration in the library when a bag slammed onto her table, making her jump. So far that morning, Rosalee had been stared at and whispered about, but few of the other students had approached her, and the ones who had usually asked where she was from, what France and Romania had been like, what her favorite classes were, and if she planned to try out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Rosalee suspected that the self-proclaimed "Marauders" had something to do with that, but she wasn't about to complain. The boys had left her alone in the library, though, so when she looked up, she'd expected to be bombarded with questions. Instead, she found a girl with long red hair and familiar, brilliant green eyes that were narrowed at Rosalee. She introduced herself. "I'm Lily Evans. You must be the new girl in my dorm. We didn't get a chance to meet last night."

Rosalee smiled. "Oh, right. Sorry about that. I'm Rosalee Dumbledore."

"Pleasure," Lily said shortly. The redhead sat down and pulled a large tome out of her bag, then continued, "I'm Head Girl, you know. I can't approve of Potter's parties or girls who don't return to their dormitories at all the entire night."

Rosalee blushed bright red. "Sorry about that," she mumbled. "That's not exactly normal for me."

Lily bit her lip, as though trying not to smile. "Yes, well, few girls are their usual selves around Potter and Black. Be certain it doesn't happen again, and I won't take away house points this time." Rosalee nodded, looking down at her book in embarrassment. Lily finally allowed a grin to appear on her face. "Good. Now then, is there anything I can do to help you adjust to a new school?"

* * *

The rest of the day was spent with Lily helping Rosalee "learn" her way around Hogwarts and Rosalee pretending to be amazed by the size and grandeur of the castle as if she were seeing it all for the first time. It felt so good for Rosalee to be back inside the castle's walls, though, that it honestly wasn't that difficult for Rosalee to pretend to be dazzled by it.

The next morning, Rosalee found herself squished between Remus and Sirius at the Gryffindor for breakfast as the first day of classes began. As owls swooped around the Great Hall, Rosalee was shocked when not one, but two owls dropped letters on her plate. She gaped, open-mouthed, at the pieces of parchment as though they might come alive at any moment until Sirius softly elbowed her. She jumped slightly and looked at him and felt the tiny sting of fear that never quite went away after she learned that Sirius wasn't really a murderer but an Order member after the battle at the Department of Mysteries when he died. Sirius teased, "They're letters, not snakes."

Rosalee forced a small laugh, but it sounded fake to her. She quickly up the first letter and opened it. Rough handwriting scrawled out a short note, "It's about time we met. The Hog's Head in Hogsmeade, 9 p.m. sharp. Don't be late. — Aberforth Dumbledore" Rosalee let out a breath that she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Picking up the next letter and flipping it over, it was all she could do not to scream and throw the letter away from her as she recognized the symbol of Slytherin pressed into the wax seal on the back of the letter. With shaking hands, Rosalee opened the envelope and read the elegant calligraphy inside that was written in shimmery green ink. "You are cordially invited to attend the next meeting of the Hogwarts Dueling Club. Hosted by Slytherin House this term, we will be meeting in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom every Friday at 7 p.m. Tardiness will not be tolerated. Sincerely, Slytherin Prefect Evan Rosier."

Remus said quietly, "Trust me, you don't want to go to that. Not this term at least."

James raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

Remus answered, "An invitation to the Slytherin Dueling Club."

Rosalee frowned. "Isn't it supposed to be for the entire school?"

Sirius scowled. "It is, but only in name. Each house takes turns being in charge of the club, but when Slytherin's reign is on, the club completely changes. It's basically just Death Eater recruitment."

Remus added, "The other houses steer clear of it while the Slytherins are in charge, but next term the Gryffindors take over the club, which means James will be the leader next time around."

James sat up a little straighter, looking quite proud of himself. "Comes with being Head Boy," James boasted. "I figure if those slimy Slytherin gits can turn the club into Death Eater recruitment, then I'm going to try to turn it into training for the Order of the Phoenix next term."

Rosalee paled considerably at the mention of the Death Eaters, remembering her past interactions with the organization in her own time. She quickly took a few gulps of pumpkin juice, but Sirius noticed her reaction and asked, "Are you ok?"

Rosalee shrugged, but her hands trembled as she tried and failed to pour syrup on her waffles without making a mess. As syrup splattered on her plate, Remus frowned. "Rosalee, it's ok if something's wrong. You can tell us."

Peter piped up just when Rosalee had forgotten he was there. "It's ok if the Slytherins scare you; you wouldn't be the only one."

Rosalee made eye contact with Peter, then quickly looked away as her stomach clenched at the memory of all the things Harry and Hermione had told her, Neville, Luna, and Ginny that Peter had done to help Voldemort. No longer hungry, Rosalee dropped her fork on her plate suddenly. "Sorry, it's just… I'm not feeling too well, I think I'd better get to the Hospital Wing. Bye," she said as she jumped up, then bolted from the Great Hall.

Running toward the Hospital Wing, Rosalee only made it to the second floor before she hid in a broom closet, dropped to the floor, and curled up in a ball. She was sweating, nauseated, burning hot, shaking like a leaf, heart racing, and felt like she was choking on air. It was just as bad as any flu she'd ever had, if not worse. Rosalee had just started gasping for air when the door to the broom closet opened. She looked up, surprised to see Sirius standing above her. She didn't have the self-control to react properly though, continuing to struggle for breath. Immediately and without question, Sirius sank down beside her and took her in his arms, holding her tightly to his chest. Rosalee's natural reaction was to struggle against his grip but was too weak to escape. Sirius whispered, "It's ok, Rosalee. You're safe here. It's ok; just breathe. Can you do that for me? Take nice, deep, slow breaths."

They stayed like that for a few minutes, until Rosalee finally managed to calm down and begin to breathe properly again. Sirius rocked her gently back and forth on his lap, which Rosalee couldn't remember being moved to sit on. She breathed his scent in deeply with her face buried in his shoulder; he smelled of cigarette smoke and something that reminded her of car oil. Finally, she mumbled, "I'm sorry; I don't know what's the matter with me. I don't normally fall apart in front of strangers. Maybe I have the flu…"

Sirius said softly, "Nah, you're not sick. You're just having a panic attack."

"What makes you say that?"

"Because I've had a couple of them before. When we were little and still got along, Regulus had more panic attacks than I ever did. He used to come to me in the middle of the night all the time during his panic attacks, so I guess I got used to recognizing them."

Rosalee relaxed her hold on Sirius's shirt, not sure when she had grabbed onto it in the first place. "I'm sorry," she whispered, not sure what else she could say.

Sirius shrugged. "It's fine. I haven't had one since I moved in with James. What worries me is what's causing your panic attacks." Rosalee shrugged, glancing around the tiny room at anything but Sirius's face. Sirius pressed, "Want to tell me what it is that frightens you so much?"

Rosalee squirmed nervously in Sirius's lap, but he stared her down until she blurted, "It's the Death Eaters. I just… I'm scared. This whole war is just so… I don't want to fight to survive every day."

"I completely understand, but that's not going to happen. They're fools, and with Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix and the Aurors all fighting against them, there's no way they can win. Another year or two, and this war will all be over."

"I'm not so sure about that," Rosalee muttered, struggling against her conscience to not tell him how incredibly wrong he was.

"I know they're strong, and I know they're scary, but I promise, as long as we keep fighting against them, they're never going to win," Sirius insisted. "Now, I know this isn't what you're going to want to do right now, but our first Defense Against the Dark Arts class starts in ten minutes, and if we leave now, we'll make it to the third floor just in time for class. Ok?"

Nodding, Rosalee let Sirius push her up from the floor, then stand up himself, before allowing him to lead her to the classroom. By the time they reached the room, Professor Artemyn was just starting the class. The pair slipped quietly into a desk in the back of the room as he said, "Today is simply going to be an evaluation, a demonstration of your current skills in Defense Against the Dark Arts in order for me to determine where to begin in your preparations for the N.E.W.T. exam at the end of the year. I'll be testing your skills through duels. You will be paired up at random into teams and called to the front of the room to duel each other's teams, two against two. Since Mr. Black and Miss Dumbledore have decided to be late to today's lesson, they can be a team and go first against Mr. Snape and Miss Carrow."

Rosalee turned bright red at being called at, but Sirius merely smirked as he stood up. "This should be fun," Sirius murmured to James as he walked to the front of the class, giving his best friend a high-five as he passed. Rosalee followed behind him sheepishly, worried about having to face down her former (or future?) Potions teacher, knowing what she did about who he was and what he would do. As the pair of Gryffindors squared off against the pair of Slytherins, Sirius nudged Rosalee, then gave her a wink. "Don't worry about it; I've got these two easy. You might not even have to throw a single spell. I'll protect you."

Rosalee snorted at that. A much older and more experienced Sirius Black had told her the same thing in the Department of Mysteries, but instead, she'd had to save him from a Cruciatus Curse with a Shield Charm, only for him to end up dying anyway. His cocky self-confidence felt familiar, though, like it was George Weasley standing beside her rather than a young Sirius Black, and that made Rosalee feel more at ease. Alecto Carrow sneered at her from across the room, "So this is the new Dumbledore girl everyone's been going on about. Doesn't seem like much of a threat to me; this is going to be easy."

Rosalee rolled her eyes, not bothering to respond. The second that Professor Artemyn allowed the duel to start, Snape and Sirius began to throw Stunning Spells at each other. Before Carrow could fire a single spell, Rosalee set her on the defensive, throwing a series of Bat-Bogey Hexes, Stunning Spells, and a Blasting Curse at Carrow, which the Slytherin girl barely managed to deflect with Shield Charms. After about seven of these spells, Rosalee noticed Snape's Disarming Charm about to catch Sirius and blocked it for him, giving Carrow a moment to breathe. For a few seconds, the duel paused, as the other three duelists stared at Rosalee as though they hadn't expected her to fight at all. Taking advantage of the break, Rosalee muttered, "Serpensortia."

A large python flew from the tip of Rosalee's wand, slithering quickly toward Carrow. Carrow squealed and backed away from the snake quickly, apparently terrified by the real life representation of her house's mascot. Snape snapped as he threw a silent spell at Sirius, "Pull it together, Carrow."

Sirius deflected Snape's spell as Rosalee used Carrow's distraction to disarm her, then cast a Freezing Charm over her. Snape rolled his eyes at his partner as Sirius grinned and declared, "Nice one, Dumbledore!"

Rosalee smiled, but it faded quickly when Snape turned his wand on her. Snape tossed a Jelly-Brain Jinx, two Stinging Hexes, and a Leg-Locker Curse at Rosalee, all of which she blocked, then sent her own Stinging Hex at Snape, and while he blocked that, she threw two other spells at Snape, both of which hit him square in the chest, "Alarte Ascendare," followed by "Incarcerous."

The first spell threw Snape high into the air, nearly hitting the high, vaulted ceiling of the classroom; the second spell created ropes tied tightly around him. Sirius cast a cushioning charm on the floor underneath Snape, and when Snape fell to the floor, it seemed more like he'd landed on a bed than the hard floor. Professor Artemyn said sternly, "That's enough, the duel is over."

Rosalee wasn't finished though; she felt rather disconnected from the reality around her. In her mind, she was back in the streets of Muggle London, trapped in a pub again in the early weeks of living on the run from the Snatchers, cornered by a pair of Death Eaters. She raised her wand to cast Memory Charms over Snape and Carrow until Sirius stepped in front of her. He placed his hand over hers on her wand, squeezed it tight, and said softly, "Hey, stop. It's over."

Rosalee blinked, instinctively jerking her wand out of his grip. She stared up at him with wide eyes as shock at seeing the infamous escaped prisoner of Azkaban standing towering above her filled her. She jumped back from him, as reality flooded her senses again — the sound of the Gryffindors cheering their classmates' defeat of Snape and Carrow, Professor Artemyn narrowing his eyes at her in silence for ignoring his declaration, Sirius's concern for her showing in his eyes. Rosalee shook her head, trying to clear her mind of swirling realities. "Umm, I'm sorry. I think I need to go to the Hospital Wing," she mumbled, excusing herself and running as fast as she could from the classroom. She ran straight to Gryffindor tower, summoned Lyle from the boys' dormitory, took the stuffed elephant, and dashed up the girls' dormitory stairs, jumping into her bed and hiding under her blankets, determined to stay there until she had to leave again for lunch.

* * *

I just wanted to let everyone know that none of my stories are abandoned! I've been really busy the last few months between two jobs, holidays, and now preparing to move yet again (this time I guarantee the new location will stick lol). Anyway, I will be continuing to post new chapters of all of my stories, between work and packing and relocating lol. Anyway, here's a new chapter at long last! More will be following soon on other stories and this one. **Please review! Reviews are my lifeblood!**


	3. Chapter 3

**September 1977**

Rosalee stayed under her blanket until Lily came up to the dorm and sat on the bed beside her. Lily informed her, "Listen, I'm not really sure what happened in Defense class today, and you don't have to tell me, but I thought you'd like to know that there's only half an hour left for lunch, so if you want to eat before your next class, you'd better get out of bed and get a move on."

Rosalee hesitantly pulled the blanket from her face and muttered, "Everyone's talking about that duel, aren't they?"

Lily sighed. "Well, let's face it. You showed far better technique than most of the other seventh years in our class, you fought more fiercely than was really necessary, and you almost seemed as though you were used to being in duels. It makes for decent gossiping material."

Rosalee groaned as she sat up. "Of course it does." Lily sat with her quietly for a moment, then Rosalee lied, "Look, it's not a big deal. My homeschooling focused mostly on Defense Against the Dark Arts because my parents saw how bad the situation with the Death Eaters was getting, plus Romania has a lot of dark and dangerous magical creatures. They wanted to make sure that above all else I could defend myself without their help. I guess I just got lost in the moment."

Lily nodded, then patted Rosalee's knee under the blanket. "I think you'd better get to the Great Hall for lunch before it's over," Lily said simply, letting the subject drop.

Rosalee nodded, getting out of bed and leaving Lily in the dorm alone as she ran down to the Great Hall. She plopped down quickly at the Gryffindor table, helping herself to a nearby lasagna and some garlic toast hurriedly. Soon enough, she found herself surrounded by four mischievous boys. Rosalee effectively ignored them until James said with a smirk, "So how're things?"

Rosalee rolled her eyes. "Potter, why don't you just come out and ask me whatever it is that you really want to ask me instead of beating around the bush?"

James replied, "All right. What happened in Defense today?"

Rosalee dropped her eyes to her plate and took random stabs at her lasagna. "Nothing, it was just a duel. No big deal."

James snorted. "Please, we all saw it. A couple spells in, and you completely changed. You grew so hard, so focused. You fought more like an Auror than a student. What's up with that?"

Rosalee shrugged, still not meeting his gaze. "I've just had a lot of practice with Defense Against the Dark Arts. I grew up knowing a lot of Aurors and close to other people who were exceptionally good at the subject. I guess I'm just good at it."

James frowned, not seeming as though he entirely believed her story, but since he had no reason to doubt her, he let it go. "Ok. What's your next class?"

* * *

Rosalee entered the Hog's Head that night nervously, unsure of what to expect from Aberforth Dumbledore. As she entered the closed pub, the bar appeared to be empty, the sole exception being a goat that wandered up to her from behind the bar when she entered. The goat bleated at her, and when it nudged her hand with its head, she scratched behind its horns. Sensing a movement behind her, Rosalee spun around, wand at the ready, to find herself face to face with the man she was supposed to be meeting. Aberforth said gruffly, "Put that thing away, girl. You could poke somebody's eye out swinging that thing around."

Slightly annoyed at being talked down to, Rosalee put her wand in her pocket. Aberforth skirted around her, walking over to the bar and waving her over there. He poured her half a glass of firewhiskey and pushed it over to her before pouring himself one. Choosing directness over tact, Rosalee asked, "What am I doing here?"

Aberforth replied, "I think it's only fair that I should know the girl who's running around claiming to be my granddaughter, don't you?" Rosalee nodded slowly. "Now, what's your name?"

"Rosalee Dumbledore."

"No, no," Aberforth said with a sigh. "Your real name, child. If we're going to pretend to be family, I want to know who the real you is."

Rosalee hesitated. "Albus said I shouldn't tell anyone the truth about who I am and where I'm from."

"Ha!" Aberforth sneered. "Is that what Albus says? Mr. Brilliant up there in the castle, hiding away in his ivory tower while others fight for their lives, thinks you should keep secrets and lie to everyone you know? That man doesn't know how to be honest with anyone, including himself. You keep the truth about yourself hidden from everyone, and you'll go mad. You have to share your secrets with someone, and that someone might as well be someone as good at keeping secrets as Albus, so it should be me."

After a moment, Rosalee said, "My name's Rosalee Winters."

Aberforth nodded. "What's your story?"

Rosalee answered slowly, "I'm a Muggle-born. Long story short, Voldemort was defeated for a while, but he came back and took over the Ministry. I'd spent months running for my life trying to escape being captured by Voldemort, tortured, and sent to Azkaban for being a Muggle-born, before somehow I got sent back in time by a cursed Time-Turner. Now I'm here, and Albus put me back in Gryffindor to get the last year of school I couldn't have before. I don't know what comes next."

Aberforth nodded. "Education and knowledge always were the most important things to Albus. As much as I hate to admit it, he's right though; Hogwarts is the safest place for you while you adjust to a new time period."

"Yeah." Rosalee scrunched up her nose as she said, "I wish he wasn't making me take Divination though; I hated that class, dropped it after a week in third year."

"That was my idea, actually," Aberforth said. "At least if you have a N.E.W.T. in Divination, you've got an excuse if you slip up and mention something from your time in the future."

"Oh," Rosalee mumbled.

"Listen," Aberforth continued. "Go back up to the castle for now, but I want to start having lunch with you once a month here at the Hog's Head on a Hogsmeade weekend. If we have to pretend to be family, we should at least know each other."

Rosalee nodded as she stood. "Ok, fair enough."

* * *

The next day, it seemed as though all of Rosalee's new friends in Gryffindor were giving her some space after the duel the previous morning. She didn't mind; it actually made it a little easier for her to keep her head together. She ate breakfast alone, then trudged through Potions class with Professor Slughorn. They were brewing Essence of Dittany that morning, and Rosalee managed to brew a decent enough potion to pass the assignment, but it was nothing in comparison to Lily and Snape's potions.

The peace was short-lived, however, as when lunchtime rolled around, the Marauders decided that Rosalee's time alone was over. As Rosalee ate her ham and cheese sandwich, the boys once again seated themselves around her. Remus said, "Hey, how are you today?"

Rosalee answered simply, "Fine. How are you?"

"Good," Remus replied. When Rosalee looked up at his face, he seemed a bit concerned, but she couldn't imagine why he would be worried.

James asked, "So what's your next class today?"

Rosalee groaned. "Divination, and I am not looking forward to it."

Peter asked, "This is N.E.W.T. levels though. If you don't like Divination, why take it?"

"Dumbledore's making me take it."

"Why?" asked James.

"Because according to him, it's something I'll be good at and enjoy or some such nonsense. I took a year of Divination in third year though and sucked at it, so I don't know why he thinks I'll be any better at it now."

Sirius shrugged. "At least Professor Murray is easy. I fully expect to get an Outstanding in that class on my N.E.W.T. exam this May, and I'm no more clairvoyant than this apple," he said, casually picking up the mentioned fruit and tossing it in the air before catching it again as he spoke.

Rosalee narrowed her eyes at Sirius skeptically. "Wait, you're taking Divination?"

"Yep."

"He's the only one of us taking it though," Remus added. "For the easy high marks, he claims. Personally, I think it's so he can be the only guy in a room full of easy girls." Rosalee, arms resting on the table & her chin in one hand, raised an eyebrow at Remus, giving him a moment to think about what he'd said before she hexed him. A second later, Remus began sputtering, "Not that you're easy, Rosalee, that's not what I'm saying at all. It's just that the girls in our year that take that class are all airheads and, well… Not that you're an airhead! I don't mean that you're not smart, it's just…"

The other boys laughed at Remus as he turned bright red, and Rosalee's impression of the hard look McGonagall used to give the twins in detention fell apart, and she ended up laughing herself. Rosalee said, "You're fine, Lupin. Don't worry about it. I'll see you guys later, though, I have to get to the hell that is Divination class." With that, she stood up and left the Great Hall, checking her bag to be sure she had everything she needed as she walked.

By the time she reached the first floor, Rosalee had realized she was being followed. Fingering her wand in her pocket, she turned around, ready to defend herself if necessary, only to find Sirius Black grinning at her. "Might as well walk there together since we're going to the same place," Sirius said cheerfully.

Rosalee relaxed a little and forced herself to smile at him. "Ok, fair enough."

Sirius walked beside her the rest of the way to class. They were almost to the classroom when Rosalee felt Sirius's fingers brush against her hand. Rosalee flushed bright red, but she wasn't sure if he was flirting with her and trying to hold her hand, or if he had simply bumped into her. She bolted into the classroom, unwilling to find out which it was. The two sat down across from each other at a table with a crystal ball on it as Professor Murray, a short, plump woman with curly hair the color of red velvet cake draped in violet robes, began class. "Today, students, we will be searching crystal balls for our classmates' futures. You will be partnered with the other person sitting at your table. Make sure to write down every detail of what you see and turn it in at my desk at the end of class. You may begin."

Sirius looked very smug about being partnered with Rosalee, which made her roll her eyes, but she couldn't help the small smile on her face. Sirius suggested, "How about you go first?"

Rosalee paled, all traces of a smile fading. "Umm, I don't think you want me predicting your future. How about you go?"

Sirius raised an eyebrow, challenging her. "Oh come on. Don't be a fraidy cat. Just stare into the ball, make up something silly, and be done with it."

Rosalee sighed in defeat. "Fine," she mumbled, pulling herself closer to the table and staring into the swirling mist inside the crystal ball. Suddenly, everything around her faded; colors drained and sounds became silent. She was in a black and white world, hearing everything as if it came from a long distance away. Then everything grew blurry, screaming back into focus in unnaturally bright colors and too loud sounds. Multicolored curses and jinxes were flying in every direction. Rosalee squealed when she realized she was back in the Department of Mysteries during the battle for the prophecy. She shook her head, tugging at her hair. "No, no, no, no, no, this can't be happening," she moaned.

That was when she heard it. "Come on; you can do better than that!"

She spun around quickly, hoping she could save him, but it was too late. The spell struck him in the chest. His eyes filled with fear and shock as the force of the spell pushed him backward, the veil claiming him. A second later, he had disappeared completely, as though he had never been there in the first place. "Sirius, no!" Rosalee shrieked, unable to stop the tears that were building in her eyes.

A voice broke through the noise of the battle raging around her, "Rosalee, it's ok! I'm right here in front of you."

A split second later, and the battle was gone. Colors faded to their normal hues; sounds returned to their normal volume. The Department of Mysteries was replaced by the Divination classroom in Hogwarts. Across from her sat Sirius Black, holding her hand, and Professor Murray stood over her, watching her curiously. Rosalee met Sirius's gaze and found his eyes filled with a mix of worry and curiosity. "What happened?" Rosalee asked quietly, looking over at Murray.

"You were in the beyond," Professor Murray answered. "Please, tell us what you saw."

Rosalee turned her eyes back to Sirius, who gave her an encouraging smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. She knew she couldn't tell the truth, so she answered lamely, "It was the Grim." A collective gasp filled the room. Sirius was studying her face, but she could see the concern in his eyes. "It was the Grim, predicting Sirius's death."

"And how did the Grim determine Mr. Black would die?" Murray asked skeptically.

Rosalee thought about it for a moment, then smiled wryly. It might, at least partially, be the truth, but it sounded so ridiculous that she was fairly sure no one would believe it. "Drapery."

"I beg your pardon?" Professor Murray squeaked.

Sirius smiled broadly as Rosalee repeated, "Drapery. Sirius Black will ultimately be killed by a curtain."

Professor Murray glared at Rosalee, but it appeared that the entire class could tell that Rosalee had been in a real trance, so she couldn't say that Rosalee was making it all up. "Very well then," Murray conceded after a few moments as the other girls in the class giggled and Sirius barked a loud laugh. "Write it down and turn it in at my desk at the end of class." With that, Murray huffed and turned away, returning to her desk.

Rosalee turned her attention back to Sirius. "So, what do you see about me?" she asked.

Sirius looked into the crystal ball, folding his arms on the table and resting his chin on his forearms. He stared hard, furrowing his brow in mock concentration. After a couple minutes, he declared, "I see you with me at a Muggle concert next summer."

Rosalee smiled, shaking her head. "I don't know if that'll really happen, but at least Murray will believe it's possible."

Sirius smirked at her. "Well, I'll hold out hope for it then," he said, winking at her.

The class ended, and the two Gryffindors turned in their predictions to Murray. As they descended the stairs from the classroom, Sirius took the lead, reaching back and taking Rosalee's hand in his as they headed for Gryffindor tower. As they walked along the seventh floor, Rosalee asked, "Umm, why are you holding my hand?"

Sirius looked back at her with a mischievous grin. "Because I want to. Is that ok?"

Rosalee thought about it for a moment. "Actually, I think it'd be better if you didn't," she replied, gently pulling her hand out of his.

Sirius shrugged. "Suit yourself," he said casually.

* * *

It was approaching one in the morning when James Potter plopped down on one of the couches in the common room beside Rosalee. She glanced up from her book curiously as James asked, "What are you doing up so late?"

"Reading. See? I've got an open book in my hand and everything." James simply smiled at her and arched an eyebrow, content to wait patiently for the real answer to spill out of her. Sighing, Rosalee said, "Ok, fine. If you really must know, I'm down here because I can't sleep, and there are too many girls in my dorm room, it makes me so anxious. I like it down here this late; it's pretty empty and nobody's pressuring me to talk about my past or my family or my future or whatever."

James nodded. He said understandingly, "I get it. Sirius gets the same way when he's going through something. To get him to talk about anything I practically have to pry it out of him with Veritaserum. It's ok, though. You don't have to talk about any of it. Just know that you can if you want to."

The two sat silently for a few moments until Rosalee mumbled softly, "Thank you. I appreciate that."

James watched her as she fiddled with one of the corners of the page of her book, then said, "Listen, I very seriously doubt anyone else can tell, but Sirius, Remus, Peter, and I, well, we can tell that you're not just talented in Defense Against the Dark Arts. I mean, clearly you are, but talent alone puts you on Lily Evans's skill level in dueling, not yours. In fact, Sirius is the only one in our class that even comes close to your skill level, and that's because he has personal experience with real dueling, not just practice duels at school."

Rosalee shifted herself further away on the couch from James as she asked, her voice unintentionally getting a little higher in pitch, "What's your point?"

"Were your parents abusive, Rosalee? Were they Death Eaters, or just not very nice people?"

Rosalee swung her hand to slap him across the face, but James, with his Quidditch reflexes, caught her wrist in his hand easily and kept her from hitting him. "How dare you suggest that?" Rosalee hissed angrily. "My parents were good, loving people and would never have hurt me or anyone else, and they most certainly were not Death Eaters. They would have given their lives to protect me from those absolute monsters. My skills in Defense class come from good teachers and fighting against Death Eaters for the last two years, so don't you even think that…"

"You've fought against real Death Eaters?" James interrupted.

Ignoring the concerned look on James's face, Rosalee snapped, "Yes, they've been everywhere I look for months now. I could avoid them before, but these days it's damn near impossible, so of course, I've fought against Death Eaters and You-Know-Who's other followers."

James frowned, using his grip on Rosalee's wrist to slowly pull her closer to him. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I didn't mean to insult you or your family."

"I suppose it's ok," Rosalee replied.

Suddenly, James pulled Rosalee to his chest and gave her a hug, scaring her half to death. She squeaked in surprise and attempted to fight her way out of it, but James had her arms pinned down, so there wasn't much she could do. He shushed her and said gently, "It's ok, Rose; it's just a hug."

Rosalee groaned, "Potter, please don't call me that."

James chuckled. "Oh, come on, but it's such a perfect little nickname for you."

"No, now let me go."

"Nah, I don't think I will," James said, a mischievous grin on his face. Seeing the heart-wrenching mix of sadness and fear in Rosalee's eyes, James expression went from playful to serious. "You've been alone a lot longer than just since right before you came to Hogwarts, haven't you?"

Rosalee wanted to wipe the building tears out of her eyes but still couldn't move her arms, so instead, she blinked rapidly and hid her face behind her hair as best she could to keep James from seeing. She mumbled, barely audible enough for James to hear, "It really is just impossible to keep anything secret from you, isn't it, Potter?"

James shrugged. "I guess I'm just an overly observant bloke. How long were you by yourself?"

Rosalee thought for a moment. "Seven or eight months I suppose. I, umm, I didn't know I had any family in England, but the Death Eaters were after me, trying to force me to join them even if it were under the Imperius Curse, I mean, I'm a Dumbledore," she mixed the lie in with the truth, still keeping her wits together enough to know better than to give up her cover to anyone. "No one in France or Romania could take me in, so I just had to run. It wasn't until I happened to apparate to Hogsmeade by chance that I found out that I had any family left alive here."

It was reasonable enough, however, that James believed it. "That's awful. I'm so sorry."

"It's ok. Just please don't tell anyone else, ok? It's really just none of their business."

James nodded. "Ok, but trust me, if anyone else will understand, it'll be Sirius. Remus and Peter are pretty good listeners too, for that matter."

Sighing, Rosalee said, "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind."

"So, are we going to sleep down here or up in my bed?"

Rosalee asked incredulously, "Excuse me?"

James laughed, "Well, you said you couldn't go up to your dorm because it gives you anxiety, but you've been spending way too much time alone, so obviously either I'm going to stay down here on the couch with you, or you're going to come up to my dorm. Really, it's just you choosing if you want the whole school to know that you slept here with me first thing in the morning or if you decide you want it to be more private. No one else's business, as you put it."

Glaring at James, Rosalee replied, "You're not going to take no for an answer, are you?" James shook his head. "Fine, your room."

"Excellent," James said with a smirk as he stood up and led her by the hand to his dorm room, likely to ensure she couldn't change her mind and run away. When they entered the room, Rosalee was surprised to find Remus still awake. When he raised an eyebrow at the pair of them, James shrugged. "She can't sleep," he said simply.

Remus shook his head, a crooked smile on his face. "Well, would you rather stay with me than James, since, you know, he's a total prat?"

Rosalee laughed, "I'll be ok, but I don't think he'd let go of me anytime soon even if I wanted to go, which I do. I'd honestly rather be alone in the common room again."

James said, "No, shush. Bed, now."

As Remus laughed softly and shook his head, Rosalee rolled her eyes and groaned, "Fine."

James playfully pulled Rosalee down on the nearest bed, which was apparently his, waving his wand as she fell on top of him. The curtains closed as James placed a silencing spell on them. He pulled Rosalee closer to him, and as his fingers brushed over her ribcage, she yelped in surprise. Watching her curiously, the mischief-maker asked, "Rose, are you ticklish?"

Rosalee growled, "Don't call me that."

James practically giggled. "Aww, come on now, Rose. Don't be a grumpy Gus."

A second later, James was tickling Rosalee mercilessly as she screamed and squealed, kicking and thrashing about as she attempted in vain to escape. Rosalee begged between shrieks, "Potter, no! Please, stop; let me go. No! Please, no more tickling!"

James laughed. "Are you going to cheer up and let me call you Rose?"

Rosalee answered quickly, "Yes, yes! Whatever you want; please, just stop!" James grinned, ceasing the tickling. Once Rosalee had caught her breath, she rolled over to look James in the eye. "I don't like being called Rose because my parents and friends and family back home all called me that, and I don't like the subtle reminder that I'll never see any of them again every time I hear it."

James's face fell. "Gee, I – I'm sorry. I didn't know."

Rosalee shrugged. "It's fine."

"I really am sorry though. I didn't think – I mean, surely you'll get to see your old friends again someday…"

"I won't though," she interrupted, sadness filling her weak voice. "They're all gone, and they're never coming back. It's ok; don't worry about it. Let's just, umm, sleep, yeah? Like you said, I just need a good night's sleep."

James frowned. "Uh, yeah, sure. Sleep, right." Rosalee turned over, facing away from James, and settled down under the blankets, closing her eyes and pretending to go to sleep to get him to leave her alone. Just as James began snoring, Rosalee finally fell asleep for real.

* * *

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	4. Chapter 4

**October 1977**

The school year began to fly by as Rosalee settled into a routine. Classes became easier to deal with. She hadn't fully readjusted to being around such large amounts of people, but it was becoming easier to cope with. She slept through the night better, and although she still found it helped to slip up to the boys' dorms and crawl into bed with one of the Marauders, as time passed she began to sleep in her own bed again, only coming to James, Sirius, or Remus if she had nightmares. Lily was still the only girl in the dorm that Rosalee considered a friend, but the two still weren't particularly close. She was even growing less fearful of Peter, and frequently she helped him with his Defense Against the Dark Arts homework.

The first Hogsmeade weekend of the year arrived the weekend before Halloween, and Rosalee had gotten an owl from Aberforth reminding her that she was to meet him for lunch at the Hog's Head that Saturday.

At dinner on Friday, Rosalee was sitting with the boys, as usual, eating a pot roast while the boys amused themselves when Sirius suddenly turned to her and asked casually, "Rosalee, would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend?"

Startled, Rosalee choked on a bite of potato. Remus clapped her on the back and handed her a glass of pumpkin juice. Once Rosalee could breathe again, she replied, her throat burning and tears pricking the corner of her eyes, "Come again?"

Sirius chuckled. "Me, you, Hogsmeade, tomorrow. What do you say?"

Remus continued to rub her back as Rosalee downed the rest of the pumpkin juice. She stuttered, "I, umm, I have to, tomorrow? Umm, I, umm, I have to meet my grandfather for lunch in Hogsmeade."

Sirius shrugged. "Ok, so I'll meet up with you afterward and show you around the rest of the village. Maybe take you to Zonko's or Honeydukes?"

Rosalee stalled, "Umm, I mean, I don't know when I'll be finished at the Hog's Head…"

Sirius shrugged. "So I'll get lunch with the guys at the Three Broomsticks and hang around the Quidditch supply store until you're done. No big deal."

Rosalee struggled to come up with another excuse. She liked hanging out with Sirius well enough, but she just wasn't ready to start dating in this new time period and really wasn't sure if he wanted a date or not. James seemed to be reading her mind and exclaimed, "Oh, for crying out loud, Rosalee, he's not asking you on a date, he just wants to show you something new. Just say yes already!"

Peter, Remus, and Sirius all laughed as Rosalee blushed, embarrassed. She quickly answered, "Ok, Sirius. I'll go with you."

Sirius grinned victoriously. "Excellent! Would you like to meet in the Common Room in the morning then, and I'll walk you down there?"

Rosalee grabbed her bag and began to make her escape. "Sure," she said quickly, before dashing off to her dorm room.

* * *

The next morning, Rosalee sat on her bed with her "go-bag" from her time on the run. It contained the only clothes she had that weren't school uniforms, all Muggle clothes that she had packed and taken with her when she ran away from home to hide from the Ministry of Magic. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves, then reached into the bag and pulled out a pair of skinny jeans, ripped from branches and briars as she hid in the woods, a worn out grey t-shirt that had the beginnings of a hole fraying in the seam under one arm, a warm, soft, green and black plaid flannel shirt that was threadbare at the elbows, and a pair of black combat boots. Pulling them on quickly, Rosalee looked in the mirror at the good two inches of dark brown hair that showed a clear line from the wheat blonde she'd dyed her hair in an attempt to make herself less identifiable should the Snatchers catch her. She sighed as she looked down at her outfit. It felt so normal that it relaxed her, but reminded her so much of her time on the run that it also filled her with anxiety. There wasn't anything she could do about that, though, so she descended the stairs to the common room and found Sirius waiting at the bottom for her. He grinned as he caught sight of her. "Prefer Muggle clothes, eh?"

Rosalee shrugged. "My family never wore Wizard robes. I grew up in Muggle clothes."

Sirius nodded thoughtfully. Rosalee could feel his eyes wandering over the well-worn clothing, which only increased her anxiety level, and she quickly grabbed his arm and dragged him out the portrait hole. Sirius asked as they made their way off castle grounds, "So, is there anything in Hogsmeade you'd especially like to see? Honeydukes, the bookstore, anything at all? It's my treat."

Rosalee protested, "Sirius, you really don't have to do that."

Sirius shook his head with a soft laugh. "You're not going to convince me to let you pay for anything, so just hush and accept it."

Rosalee smiled slightly and shook her head. "Fine." The pair didn't speak again until they were off school grounds. Trees crowded the path, making Rosalee feel claustrophobic. She hadn't been this close to a forest since the night she escaped the Snatchers. As feelings of fear and isolation flooded her chest, Rosalee suddenly reached out and grabbed Sirius's hand, clinging to it like a lifeline. Sirius looked over at her, a hint of worry in his eyes. Instantly, Rosalee dropped his hand and jumped away from him, putting several feet of space between them. "Umm, sorry," she mumbled, unable to come up with a proper excuse for such strange behavior.

Sirius closed the space between them, taking her hand in his again and squeezing it reassuringly. "I'm sure you've figured out by now that James told me about your past, since, you know, he figured I'd need to know since mine is your favorite bed to climb into when you have nightmares." Rosalee blushed furiously and tried to tug her hand free, but he held it securely in his. "Don't be so embarrassed. It's ok; I don't mind. Honestly, I've had nightmares occasionally myself, and they've just about gone away altogether since you've started sleeping in our dorm."

"What's your point?" Rosalee asked softly.

Sirius pulled her gently to a stop in the middle of the path. The cool autumn breeze picked up, sending a shiver down Rosalee's spine. He took another step closer to her, invading her personal space a little as he asked, "What's wrong?"

Rosalee frowned. "What do you mean?"

Sirius used his free hand to brush her hair out of her face, which made her flinch slightly. "I mean, you're hardly a touchy-feely person, but you just grabbed onto me like if you let go you were going to die. Why do you suddenly not feel safe?"

Rosalee shrugged, but Sirius's gaze forced the truth out of her. "It's the trees… I just feel claustrophobic. I feel like someone's going to jump out from behind the trees and try to kill us at any moment. I feel like I'm running again."

Sirius hugged her suddenly. Rosalee gasped, still not used to people hugging her so often. Sirius chuckled. "You've got to get used to the fact that you're not alone anymore," he reminded her gently.

As his scent overwhelmed her senses, Rosalee commented, "You smell like cigarette smoke."

Sirius chuckled. "I may have had one earlier in the Astronomy Tower."

Rosalee frowned. "I don't like cigarettes."

Sirius loosened his grip on her slightly. "Does the smell bother you?"

Rosalee grabbed onto his shirt tightly as she felt him start to let go. "Surprisingly, no. It's unfamiliar, but grounding."

Sirius smiled, leaving one arm wrapped around Rosalee's shoulders as he moved them to continue down the path to Hogsmeade. "Good." Just as Rosalee was growing comfortable with her surroundings, she heard a twig snap close to her just in the woods. Instantly, she turned that direction, wand pointed in the general direction of the sound, knocking Sirius's arm off her shoulders. Sirius placed a reassuring hand on her waist and leaned down closer to her ear. "Rosalee, it's ok. There's nothing there. It was probably just a rabbit or something."

Rosalee stood her ground anyway, eyes darting nervously at various spots in the forest. A moment later, her eyes settled on the shape of a young woman, cloaked in black, stepping out from behind a tree. "Don't doubt your little mudblood's instincts, dear cousin," the woman called, her familiar voice causing all the color to drain from Rosalee's face. She stepped out from under the shadows, and the beautiful, younger face of Bellatrix LeStrange appeared, her black curls a beautiful mess. The fact that she was better looking before her time in Azkaban did nothing to lessen Rosalee's fear.

"Bellatrix," Sirius growled, his hand on Rosalee's waist suddenly gripping her skin nearly hard enough to bruise, instinctively growing possessive, protective. "What are you doing here?"

Bellatrix chuckled slightly, taking a few steps closer to the pair. Rosalee was shaking so hard that it was all she could do to maintain a grip on her wand. She hadn't seen Bellatrix since the night Snape killed Dumbledore, but then again, she hadn't wanted to see the Death Eater again either, so she supposed she must've done pretty well at staying hidden. Bellatrix smiled sweetly at the pair of them, an expression that looked out of place on the woman, then focused her eyes on Rosalee. Memories of the battle in the Department of Mysteries flashed through her mind as Bellatrix's dark eyes met her own brown eyes, and Rosalee trembled in Sirius's grasp. Bellatrix answered, "I'm just here to lay eyes on this new Dumbledore girl Regulus has told us so much about. Supposedly she's very good with a wand, but from what I see…" Bellatrix looked Rosalee up and down, then sneered. "I don't think this girl is much of a threat to anyone."

Sirius pulled Rosalee a couple steps back, forcing himself between her and Bellatrix, pulling out his wand and leveling it at his cousin's throat. "Leave. Now," Sirius ordered, and Rosalee couldn't help but be a bit surprised by the authority in his voice.

Bellatrix giggled. "Oh, come on, my dear little cousin. Don't you think it's time you quit playing around with all these blood traitors and Muggle scum and come back home to us? I know lots of people would be thrilled to welcome you back. Aunt Walburga might even be willing to put you back on the family tapestry."

Sirius snarled, "I wouldn't be willing to go back to that house or that family even if they killed everyone else in the world, then threatened to kill me too."

Bellatrix narrowed her eyes at him. "Be careful what you say, Sirius. That could be arranged."

Glaring at Bellatrix, Sirius grabbed Rosalee's hand with his free one. "I won't warn you again. Leave, Bellatrix. Don't come back."

Bellatrix nodded. "Very well, Sirius," she replied coolly. Turning her attention back to Rosalee, she smirked. "I'll be seeing you again, Miss Dumbledore. Perhaps next time your voice will be recovered enough to actively participate in the conversation."

Anger filling Rosalee at the memory of Bellatrix murdering Sirius, Rosalee retorted, "Go to hell, LeStrange."

Bellatrix's grin grew wider. "Ah, the dirty halfblood speaks!" she exclaimed. "Well, at least now I can let the others know she at least has a voice, even if she doesn't have a spine." Losing her temper, Rosalee waved her wand at Bellatrix, the force of the spell throwing Bellatrix back several feet into the trees. Rosalee and Sirius heard Bellatrix laugh, then saw a jet of red light speed out of the trees, hitting Rosalee square in the chest. She clung as tightly as she could to Sirius in order to stay on her feet as the Cruciatus Curse took hold of her body, but she couldn't help the whimpers leaving her throat as the excruciating pain consumed her. Bellatrix called from the trees as she dodged a Stunning Spell from Sirius, "A parting gift. Welcome to England, Dumbledore."

A loud crack informed the pair of Gryffindors that Bellatrix had disapparated. A moment later, the Unforgivable Curse dissipated, leaving Rosalee breathless. Sirius spun around to steady Rosalee, his hands wandering over her skin, searching for wounds, despite knowing fully well that the Cruciatus Curse didn't actually leave any physical traces. Rosalee pushed his hands away and gasped, "Sirius, I'm fine. Stop."

Sirius wrapped his arms tightly around her, ignoring when Rosalee tried to pull away, and apparated. Rosalee squealed in surprise at the sensation of being sucked through a tight tube, and as the pair reappeared in the front of the Hog's Head, she nearly collapsed, struggling not to vomit on his shirt. She tried her best to take slow, deep breaths, letting the cigarette smell overwhelm her senses, pulling her out of her painful memories. There was a loud buzzing sound in her ears, and she closed her eyes as she leaned her forehead against his chest. She felt his hands running soothingly up and down her back, and as the smell of cigarette smoke calmed her mind, the buzzing in her ears began to fade, and she heard Sirius murmuring, "I'm so sorry, Rose. This is all my fault. You're going to be ok, though. The pain will fade; it's going to be just fine. I should've protected you better. I'm so so sorry."

Rosalee mumbled back, "Sirius, I'm ok. Stop apologizing. It's not your fault. Bellatrix is cruel and evil, but that has nothing to do with you."

Sirius kissed the top of her head. "I'm sorry you got hurt," he muttered against her hair.

Rosalee took a deep breath. "I've been in worse situations than that," she whispered as her stomach stopped churning and she began to feel normal again.

"What's going on out here?"

Rosalee looked up, resting her cheek against Sirius's chest as she looked in the direction of the Hog's Head to see Aberforth Dumbledore standing a few meters away. Sirius answered, "I'm sorry, sir. We had a bit of a confrontation with my cousin Bellatrix on the way here. She hit Rosalee with a Cruciatus Curse."

Aberforth took a few steps closer, then asked, "You all right?" Rosalee nodded, slowly pulling away from Sirius's arms. Aberforth nodded, then said, "I'll take it from here, Black."

Sirius hesitated to leave, so Rosalee reassured him, "It's ok. I'll see you later, yeah?"

Sirius nodded. "Right."

As Sirius walked back towards the main village, Aberforth quickly ushered Rosalee into the building. Once they were in the kitchen, away from the customers, Aberforth forced her into a chair and asked roughly, "What happened?"

Rosalee glared up at the old man, angry at being treated once again as though she couldn't fend for herself. "Bellatrix ambushed us on the road here. Some nonsense about wanting to lay eyes on me, like she was sizing me up for something." Rosalee hesitated, then added, "She called me a mudblood when she first appeared, but later she called me a halfblood."

Aberforth shook his head. "Don't fret over that. She likes to throw that word around at everyone she considers beneath her. She doesn't know the truth about you." Rosalee nodded. "You threw the first spell, didn't you?"

Brow furrowing in confusion, Rosalee asked, "How do you know that?"

Aberforth said gruffly, "I took a guess. You're young, inexperienced, and foolish enough to think that it's a good idea to attack Bellatrix LeStrange."

Bristling at being talked down to, Rosalee snapped, "I'm not a child, and I have more experience fighting for my life than most people."

"You're what, seventeen? You might be allowed to use magic outside Hogwarts now, but you're still a child. So you got caught up in a few battles in a war? So what? That's what happens in a war. Children like you get swept up in it and end up fighting the battles the adults created. That doesn't give you the ability to lead an army."

"I'm not trying to lead an army," Rosalee snapped. "I'm trying to survive."

"Things are different now than they were where you're from," Aberforth replied. "You might have managed to survive then with a little skill and a lot of luck, but here you'll find that it's going to take more ability, more aptitude, and more finesse than what you've experienced before. This isn't just going into hiding. It's hiding in plain sight, and that's far more difficult."

"I can do it," Rosalee insisted.

"Well, of course you _can_ , you silly girl. The real question is, _will_ you do it?" Rosalee opened her mouth to argue, but Aberforth continued, "Have you confided your secret in that Black fellow?"

Rosalee frowned. "No, of course not. I haven't told anyone."

"Those boys you hang around with might not always be the most sensible blokes, but they're trustworthy. You ought to try trusting them." Rosalee began to respond but was interrupted again when Aberforth plopped fish and chips down in front of her. "Here, eat."

Sighing, Rosalee had found that since she'd gotten to that time period, she couldn't refuse a free meal after going hungry for so long. In fact, she had gotten a little underweight during her time on the run, and while she was almost back to normal, she still could use a couple more pounds. The fish and chips were surprisingly delicious. The rest of the meal passed in silence as Rosalee scarfed down her lunch. The second she was done eating, she jumped up. "Well, umm, nice seeing you again. Bye," she said hurriedly before running from the kitchen, out the front door, and down the street towards Honeydukes. She was halfway there when she turned a blind corner and hit something hard, falling down hard.

Rosalee looked up from where she sat on the ground, surprised to see Remus standing over her. "Oh, Rosalee, I'm sorry. Are you ok?" he asked, reaching down with one hand and pulling her up to stand on her feet.

Rosalee answered, "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. How, umm, how are you?"

Remus smiled shyly. "Oh, I'm good. Actually, Sirius sent me to collect you from the Hog's Head. He's a little busy."

Rosalee raised an eyebrow at him. "Doing what?"

Remus said, "Oh, you know, probably jinxing the shit out of his little brother for telling their cousin about you."

"Oh."

"So Sirius said you wanted to go to Honeydukes?" Remus said, taking her by the hand and continuing back in the other direction towards the chocolate shop. Rosalee blushed a little when Remus held her hand, and at his question, she nodded. Remus's grin grew wider. "Fantastic. That's my favorite place in Hogsmeade. They have just about any sweet imaginable."

Rosalee smiled sweetly at Remus. She was still a bit unsure how to conduct herself around him. Despite having had his adult self as a professor for an entire year and knowing he was completely safe to be around, she was still struggling with even the thought of werewolves since the attack just before she arrived in 1977. Almost all of her nightmares were about the wolf that attacked her, and despite knowing that Remus would never hurt her, she couldn't quite seem to ignore the stab of panic in her just every time she even thought the word "werewolf." In truth, she had tried quite a few times to cast a Patronus Charm in the Room of Requirement, where she spent quite a bit of time, but she simply couldn't manage it, even without a boggart or dementor there causing her to panic. It was a constant undertone of fear beneath every other emotion. Remus paused in front of Honeydukes, and Rosalee accidentally walked into his back, not having noticed he'd stopped. He turned around to face her, placing gentle hands on her shoulders. "Hey, are you ok?" Remus asked. "You seem rather distracted."

Rosalee looked up at him, brown eyes meeting green, and a very different sort of chill ran down her spine. She said softly, "Oh, yeah, I'm fine."

Remus grinned. "Good." He tugged her into the shop. "Then welcome to Honeydukes." The sweet shop was filled with Glacial Snow Flakes, Pepper Imps, Sugar Quills, Peppermint Toads, Toffees, Drooble's Best Blowing Bubble Gum, and every form of chocolate imaginable. "Isn't it glorious?" he asked excitedly.

Rosalee tightened her hold on his hand a little while they explored further into the store and replied, "Yeah, it really is." She felt tears burning at her eyes a little as she remembered seeing the shop during her last year at Hogwarts, fairly empty of customers, shelves poorly stocked, even the lights had seemed a bit dimmer as the Death Eaters attacked and ripped the Wizarding World to pieces.

Remus pulled her to a stop in the back of the shop behind a shelf loaded down with Spindle's Lick'O'Rish Spiders. He pulled her a little closer until their chests were practically touching. He frowned, using his thumb to wipe away a stray tear from her cheek that she hadn't realized was there. Remus asked quietly, "Rosalee, what's wrong?"

Rosalee sniffed, then shook her head, mumbling, "Oh, it's nothing. I'm sorry."

Remus brushed his fingers over her cheek. "It's ok. You can tell me what's the matter." When she stayed silent, leaning into the comfort of his hand on her face, he continued, "Rosalee, it's ok. Trust me."

Rosalee sighed, then whispered, making Remus lean in a little closer to hear her, "It's really nothing, honestly. It's just… it reminds me of home. I'm just homesick, that's all. I'm ok." Suddenly, Rosalee noticed that she could feel Remus's breath on her face, making her shiver, but she didn't pull away. It had been such a long time since she'd been this close to someone without feeling afraid, and she wasn't ready for the feeling to go away. She chanced a glance up at him and found him studying her face carefully. "Remus," she started, but was interrupted when he took her by surprise and kissed her gently on the lips. She gasped softly, which Remus used to his advantage to deepen the kiss. Rosalee reached up and gripped his t-shirt with her hands, letting go of Remus's hand, which instantly found it's way to her hip, gripping her a little roughly.

Another second later, and it was over. Rosalee stood there, momentarily dumbfounded, Remus now standing back away from her, not touching her at all. Remus was bright red, a hand rubbing the back of his neck, clearly embarrassed. "I, umm, I'm sorry."

Rosalee blushed, then stammered, "Oh, no, you're fine, I, umm…"

Remus exclaimed, "So, yeah, this is Honeydukes, so I bet James and Sirius are done with their stuff by now, so let's get you some of the candy, then go catch up with them, yeah?" Rosalee, more befuddled by Remus Lupin than ever, nodded.

* * *

REVIEWS. I love reviews. They are my version of unicorn's blood. I drink my reviews, & I live off my computer, like... well, you get the idea. REVIEWS PLEASE.


	5. Chapter 5

**October 1977**

Rosalee plopped down beside the couch James in front of the fireplace in the common room. James looked up from his essay at her, a knowing grin on his face. "So how was your day?" he asked.

Rosalee, elbows on her knees and chin her hands, sighed. "Very strange," she answered. "Sirius was my escort to Hogsmeade, his cousin basically attacked us on the way there, and Remus…" she broke off mid-sentence, feeling suddenly awkward.

James raised an eyebrow, still wearing that I-know-everything smirk. "Yeah, what about Remus?" he pushed.

Rosalee turned bright red. "Why do I get the feeling that you already know?" James shrugged. Rosalee answered, exasperated, "Remus kissed me in Honeydukes, ok? But then he got all shy and pretended like nothing happened for the rest of the day."

James shook his head, chuckling softly to himself. "Remus likes you a lot."

Rosalee tugged a little at the sleeve of her worn flannel shirt. "I don't know if I'm ready to date someone," she mumbled. "I, um, I had a boyfriend back home, and we never got the chance to get truly serious or to break up. We were going to get more serious I think, but then I had to go into hiding alone, and… I don't know what happened to him."

James placed a comforting arm around her shoulders. "I'm sorry," he said softly.

Rosalee laid her head on James's shoulder, snuggling closer to him, clearly having grown more comfortable with his physical affection over the last couple months. "It's been like eight months or so since we were forced apart. I mean, I know he's dead, but… I mean, he couldn't be anything else but… I don't know. It's not like I'm still in love with him, I just…"

"Aren't ready to commit to someone new?" James suggested.

Rosalee smiled slightly. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. I'm sure there are other issues I'd have to get over first too."

"If it helps," James offered. "Remus has issues of his own that he needs to get over. Honestly, he might not be willing to tell you for like the next ten years, but he really likes you and wants to go out with you, but there's something he needs to talk to you about first. It's not my place to tell you what it is though…"

Her face instantly fell. "Umm, yeah…"

James looked at her curiously. "Is there something that _you're_ not telling me?"

Rosalee looked down at the carpet, playing all the more with her too-long sleeves. "Oh, well, umm… No, there's nothing."

James tried to look her in the eyes, but she deftly avoided his gaze. "Are you sure? It seems like something's bothering you."

Forcing an empty laugh, she replied, "Yeah, I'm fine. There's nothing the matter, just forget it." Standing suddenly, she declared, "I think I'm just going to go up to bed actually."

"Oh yeah? Whose bed tonight?" James asked.

"Mine, ya tosser. I think it's about time I managed on my own all the way through the night."

James's mouth twitched up in half a smirk. "So we shouldn't be expecting a pretty bird waking us in the middle of the night begging to crawl into our beds anymore? Oh what a pity, I'm going to miss that so…"

Rosalee smacked the back of his head as she walked around the back of the couch towards the stairs to the girls' dorms. "Goodnight, Potter."

* * *

The following Monday was Halloween, and that morning Rosalee was on her way back to Gryffindor tower from Divination class alone, as Sirius had stayed back to flirt with a pretty little Hufflepuff brunette. She was passing by an empty classroom when she suddenly felt a hand cover her mouth and an arm wrap around her body, pinning her arms to her side. She let out a muffled scream as she was lifted from the floor and tossed carelessly into the abandoned classroom, which she realized wasn't so abandoned after all as she looked up from where she had landed on the floor, wand already in her hand. The room was occupied by a decent-sized group of Slytherins — at least ten, varying from fifth to seventh years, gathered around the room, laughing at her. Alecto Carrow laughed, "Well if it isn't Rosalee Dumbledore, the little whore of Gryffindor?"

Rosalee glared at Carrow, pulling herself to her feet. The desks had all been pushed up against the walls, leaving her nowhere to dive for cover if necessary, but Rosalee made a mental note of the two stuffed bookcases behind Carrow and a couple other male Slytherins she didn't know other than by name, Evan Rosier and Zane Travers, just in case she could get the chance to spill the contents over onto the Slytherins. She caught sight of Snape lurking with Regulus Black by the door out of the corner of her eye and guessed that it must have been one of them who had grabbed her. Snape drawled, "Carrow, don't be thick. I doubt she's even noticed the rumors flying around this school about her. She only ever talks to those Gryffindor fools, and I doubt they're letting anyone get away with saying anything around her."

"What are you on about, you slimy git?" Rosalee demanded.

Carrow giggled. "Oh, the little tramp really doesn't know. This is going to be even more fun than I thought."

"What even is this?" Rosalee snarled.

"Initiation," Simon Mulciber, who Rosalee had to spin around to see standing behind her, answered, a sly grin on his face that made her stomach twist.

"Well, see? There's the problem right there," Rosalee replied with as much false bravado as she could muster. "I don't want to be initiated into anything you people are involved with, so there's really no point in any of us being here in the first place. So unless you just happen to be wanting to have your balls hexed off, I suggest getting out of my way and letting me go."

Carrow squealed in delight. "She even goes straight for the most sexual thing possible in a threat. She's just quite the little slut, isn't she?" Rosalee turned back around to face Carrow as the Slytherin continued. "The whole school knows you're sleeping with those stupid boys you've been hanging around. The way we hear it, you never spend even a single night in your own bed these days. So, what, you're just their personal little harlot nowadays, eh?"

Rosalee angrily threw a Stinging Jinx at Carrow, only to have the witch easily block it and be brought to her knees instead by a Cruciatus Curse in the back. She bit her lip so hard it bled in her efforts not to scream, unwilling to give the caster the satisfaction, but never lost her grip on her wand, aiming it again, this time at Mulciber behind her, and firing a silent Stunning Spell at him. The spell would have hit him between the eyes had Snape not blocked it for him. Mulciber released her from the Unforgiveable Curse, and she gasped for air as the pain left her body. Mulciber let out a laugh that chilled Rosalee to the bone. "And that, little Dumblewhore, is why you're being initiated into our little club. We've all seen your strength, what you're capable of, yet those Gryffindors treat you like a piece of tail."

Quickly regaining her feet, Rosalee got up in Mulciber's face, sticking the point of her wand against the underside of his jaw hard enough to cause him to wince. "Shut up," she growled. "You're wrong."

A spell from Rabastan LeStrange crashed into her left side, throwing her on top of one of the desks pushed against the wall and hitting her head on the wall hard enough to make her see bright flashes of light dancing across her vision. Someone — whom she realized when her vision cleared was Rosier — grabbed her by the throat and banged her against the wall again, her back against the hard stone, this time holding her there, his wand jabbed painfully into her chest. She whimpered softly, unable to keep the display of fear and pain from escaping her, and he smirked as he said, "You've got so much potential to be great, Dumbledore. Our leader, our true leader, he believes you'd be a great asset to our little group." Eyes focused enough to see Rosier's features, Rosalee prepared herself for the consequences of her actions before she spit in his face. Furious, the Slytherin pulled her back and slammed her head against the wall again with enough force that blackness started encroaching on the edges of her vision. She cried out in pain. "The Dark Lord wants you for his own," Rosier murmured, his tone of voice far too sweet for the topic at hand. "You're outnumbered and alone. Of course, we'll have to let you go at some point, but we just couldn't bear it if you forgot about us and our promises. You might only be a halfblood, but you're a Dumbledore and a damn powerful witch. The Dark Lord can respect such talent, and…" Rosier paused, gently taking his wand and dragging it down her face in a way that was oddly seductive. "He would never allow you to be treated as a strumpet the way those _boys_ do."

Just then, the door flew open and in walked Sirius, James, Peter, and Remus. Remus growled angrily, wand out, "Let her go right now."

All four Marauders aimed their wands in different directions around the room as Rosier released Rosalee. She quickly climbed down from the desk, and as her legs hit the floor, her knees buckled, but she managed to stagger over, practically falling into Sirius's arms. James said angrily, "Two hundred points from Slytherin for this senseless violence and all of you have detention with Filch every night for the next two months."

Sirius supported Rosalee's weight as the Gryffindors walked out of the unused classroom, and when they rounded the corner at the end of the hallway, Sirius scooped Rosalee up in his arms and carried her the rest of the way to the common room. As they reached the Fat Lady, Rosalee insisted, "Put me down."

Sirius asked, "Are you sure you can walk? You were having an awful lot of trouble back there."

Rosalee hissed, "Yes, I'm fine. Now put me down."

Sirius set her on her feet, and after a moment of wobbling, Rosalee gave the Fat Lady the password and hurried into the common room. Remus rushed after her, and as she reached the stairs, he caught her by the elbow. "Rosalee, wait — "

"Why?" Rosalee screeched. "So you can tell me that everything's fine? So you lot can pretend that there's not a war brewing out there about to explode all over this place? So you lot can keep pretending that the entire bloody school doesn't think that I'm you boys' little hussy?"

James took a step past Remus, and said cautiously, "Rosalee, wait, let us explain…"

"Explain what?" Rosalee snapped. "Why I had to find out from the bloody Slytherins what everyone here really thinks about me instead of from my friends?"

Sirius placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, which she instantly shook off, taking an extra two steps away from them, glaring angrily. Sirius sighed. "We were trying to protect you. You were having such a hard time with losing your parents and everything else, the panic attacks, the nightmares. We didn't want you to have anything else to pile on top of that, and we knew it was all just a bunch of bullshit anyway, so we made sure no one would say anything like that to you or near you. We were just trying to protect you and make things easier for you."

"Yeah, an awful lot of good that did," Rosalee retorted. "I just got my ass handed to me by a bunch of smarmy Slytherin gits."

James raised his voice. "Hey! That wasn't our fault; knowing about those nasty rumors wouldn't have done anything to protect you from them."

"If it hadn't been for that bitch Carrow spouting off her mouth about those nasty rumors, I could've kept my bloody head on straight!" Rosalee shouted angrily. "I got my ass kicked because I got so angry that I fucked up; I was fine up until then! I was calm, collected, calculating, and then she opened her bloody mouth and I got so angry that instead of attacking precisely and accurately, I attacked out of anger, and it could've gotten me bloody killed! So I'm sorry if right now I'm not exactly feeling all sunshine and rainbows about you lot trying to protect my bloody feelings. I'm not a fragile little flower, I've been through a far worse hell than stupid little bimbos gossiping about me. I don't need you to protect my _feelings_. And Peter Pettigrew, are you going to even try to defend your decision or are you just going to go with the old standby that you just do whatever the bloody hell James and Sirius tell you to?"

Peter turned bright red where he was standing behind the other three Marauders. He sputtered, "I – I'm sorry, Rosalee. I just really like you and didn't want you to be upset."

Rosalee softened slightly at Peter's nervous confession, but then Remus reached out to touch her arm again. She shied away from the physical contact. Remus said softly, "Rosalee, your head is bleeding. You need to get to the Hospital Wing."

Rosalee continued to glare, so Sirius added, "Rosalee, we're sorry. We shouldn't have tried to keep that mess secret from you, but please, let us take you to the Hospital Wing. It could be more than just simple bleeding. You could have a concussion."

Suddenly, a pair of small hands shoved Rosalee forward into Remus's arms. She looked over her shoulder, eyes narrowed at the girl who turned out to be Lily, who stood there glaring right back. "I don't know what you five are fighting about, and I don't care. Stop the bloody caterwauling and just go to the bloody Hospital Wing already."

Remus wrapped an arm around Rosalee's shoulders, guiding her out of the common room, despite her vague protests. The room was slowly growing fuzzier, and she stumbled down the hallway with Remus's help, but when they reached the stairs, Remus had to pick her up in his arms and carry her down them to make sure she didn't fall down. By the time they reached the Hospital Wing on the fourth floor, darkness was edging away at her vision and she was mumbling out incoherent protests to being taken to the Hospital Wing. "I've had worse," she insisted as Remus gently placed her on a bed while the other boys explained what had happened to Madame Pomfrey.

As the mediwitch busied herself with gathering potions to fix Rosalee, Remus replied easily to Rosalee, "I've had worse too, doesn't mean it doesn't need to be taken care of."

Rosalee mumbled, Remus's face the only thing she could see, and her vision growing steadily blurrier, "I'm sorry you have to go through that every month."

Instinctively, Remus replied, "It's ok." When the comment had really processed in his mind, his jaw dropped. "Hey, hey, Rosalee, wait a minute! What do you mean every month, what are you talking about?" Rosalee couldn't hear anything after that as the blackness took over.


	6. Chapter 6

Hi, folks! I'm sorry it's been so long since I've updated. It's been a very difficult year. BUT have no fear, I am still writing, slowly but surely, and I will be updating again! Now, on with our story!

* * *

 **October 1977**

Rosalee woke up that night in the Hospital Wing, not sure what time it was. Groaning at the aching that she was sure reached every muscle in her body, she opened her eyes and was startled to find herself surrounded by the four Marauders. James said cheerily, "About time you woke up! You missed the Halloween Feast, but don't worry. We saved you a huge plate of all your favorites."

Rosalee glanced around, confused by the suspicious looks on Sirius and Remus and the upset expression on Peter's face. Sirius added, "Oh yeah, and we were hoping you could tell us what the hell it is you think you know."

Rosalee frowned, deciding to try to play it off as she remembered her latest slip of the tongue. "What do you mean?" she asked, trying her best to sound innocent.

Remus answered, his voice rough and slightly hoarse, "You said to me before you passed out that you were sorry I had to go through that every month. What did you mean? What do you think is going on with me?"

Rosalee looked around the room until her eyes landed on James, trying to keep the desperation off her face. Faced with the possibility of having no choice but to tell them the truth about herself, the resemblance between James and his son who had once been her friend was so striking that she could feel. James sighed. "Just tell us, Rosalee. We're your friends. We just want to know we can trust you."

Something about the mention of trust made Rosalee bristle. "I thought I could trust you, too," she snapped. "But you didn't trust me to handle myself, to know what the rest of the school thought about me. Why should I treat you boys any differently?"

"Rose, please," Remus choked out. All the anger inside Rosalee deflated as she heard the intense emotions in his voice. "Please, we're sorry. You're right, and we should have known that you could have handled a few gossipy girls calling you names. But please, this is so much more serious. We need to know whatever it is that you know." Rosalee couldn't bring herself to meet his gaze, but Remus wasn't about to let her get away with that. He grasped her chin, firmly but still gently, and brought her brown eyes to his green ones. "I need to know," he begged. "Please."

Rosalee took a deep, ragged breath. Hoping the boys wouldn't press too deeply, she sighed. "Ok, fine. I know you're a werewolf."

Remus's hand instantly dropped from her face. Slack-jawed, he recoiled from her as though she'd slapped him. When it became clear that Remus wasn't going to say anything, Sirius pressed, "What makes you think that?"

Rosalee bit her lip hard before replying. "I had a teacher who was a werewolf back home," she said slowly, balancing on the precipice between truth and fiction as best she could. "I'm just pretty familiar with werewolves, so I could just tell." She couldn't tell if Remus was going to yell or cry, so she continued, "I don't care, though. You're a good person, Lupin, and I don't think being a werewolf changes who you are."

Rosalee reached for his hand, but Remus stood from his chair beside the bed and took a step away. James put a hand on Remus's shoulder. He flinched but didn't push James away. James said softly, "Come on, Moony; you know she was going to have to know eventually. It's better this way, and she clearly doesn't care. She likes you."

"James," Remus groaned.

Sirius sighed. "He's right, Moony. She's officially a Marauder now; well, she won't have a nickname like ours, but still."

Piping up for the first time, Peter added, "Prongs and Padfoot are right. She likes you, Moony, fully knowing everything about you, just like we do. I think you should trust her."

After thinking it over a moment, Remus turned around with a sigh and looked at Rosalee, her eyes wide with anxiety. "You know everything about me, then," he almost seemed to accuse. Not trusting her voice, Rosalee simply nodded. "Then I trust that you'll keep my secret safe." Rosalee released the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, relieved he wasn't pressing more into how she knew.

A sly grin on his face, Sirius said, "Moony, maybe there's another little secret that you should let Rosie Posie in on too?"

Remus sputtered, turning bright red, "What - I - you - shut, shut up, Padfoot."

Rosalee cocked her head to one side, watching Remus getting more and more nervous with a mix of confusion and amusement. "What am I missing?" she asked curiously.

James teased, "I've got a feeling that if you thought a little about it, you'd already know, given certain recent events." Remus elbowed James as hard as he could in the stomach, making him groan and bend over, clutching his abdomen. James moaned overdramatically, "Moony, that was a touch unnecessary."

Remus rolled his eyes as Rosalee gasped. "Oh, wait. You mean Honeydukes?" At this point, Remus was tomato red, pulling at a loose thread on his Gryffindor sweater. He opened his mouth to say something, but then apparently changed his mind, turning and rushing out the door of the Hospital Wing. Rosalee frowned. "What'd I do?" she asked.

Sirius shrugged. "He's just a bit dramatic," he said. "You guys need to talk about this, though, so I suggest you go after him and hurry before he disappears into a secret tunnel."

Rosalee nodded, quickly grabbing her wand from the nightstand beside the bed and running out into the dark corridor after Remus. She looked around for him but didn't have a clue where he could have gone. Taking a guess, she headed for the nearest secret passageway up to Gryffindor tower. When she reached the correct suit of armor, she tapped it three times with her wand, and a door opened in the wall behind it. Slipping inside, she whispered, "Lumos." A bright light from the tip of her wand filled the dark tunnel, revealing Remus sitting on the marble staircase ahead of her. "Hi," she said softly.

Remus sighed heavily. "Hi." He looked up at her, something sad in his eyes that made Rosalee's stomach twist. "How did you find me?"

She shrugged. "Honestly I just guessed and went the shortest way I knew to the common room." Remus nodded, not bothering to question how she even knew about the secret passage. She crossed the short space and sat down beside him. "So, Honeydukes?" she pressed.

Remus smiled slightly, tapping his wand nervously against his ankle, tiny little white sparks shooting from the tip and scattering across the marble floor. "Honeydukes," he said wryly. "Sirius really should learn to keep his nose out of other people's business."

"Probably so, but I think we both know that he never will."

Remus's smile grew a little bigger. "True," he conceded. Taking a deep breath, he admitted, "Ok, Honeydukes. I'm sorry I kissed you. I shouldn't have done that."

Rosalee's face fell slightly. His words hadn't been quite what he'd expected. "Oh," she breathed. "It's ok." They sat in silence for a couple minutes, before she mumbled, "You know, I, umm, I didn't mind, you know."

Remus's head jerked up, swinging around to look at her. "You didn't?" Rosalee shook her head. "B-but you knew what I am?" She nodded. "Then why aren't you repulsed by me?"

Rosalee looked at him, surprised. "Why is it that you can accept love and friendship from your boys, but if a girl offers you the same love and understanding you think you're too much of a monster to accept it?"

His eyes grew wide in shock. "I - I…"

Rosalee continued, "Lupin, I've met a werewolf like you before. He was my teacher, and he fell in love with this beautiful younger witch, and she loved him too. He refused to go out with her though because he didn't feel like he was worthy of her. He made excuses that he was too old for her, too damaged, too dangerous, but she didn't care about any of it. It took a full year for them to get together, only for a stupid war to tear them apart after they finally got together."

"What's your point?" Remus snapped, the wand light shining on his scarred face making him look like he was a good five years older.

Rosalee flinched at his tone. "My point," she said, a little more irritable. "Is that it doesn't matter if you're a werewolf or not, you should snatch up every moment of happiness you can, or the chance will disappear."

Remus shook his head, a bitter chuckle escaping his throat. "Rose, I'm a werewolf," he said with a bite of sarcasm. "If I snatched up every happiness I wanted, half the population of Hogwarts would have disappeared by now because I would have eaten them every full moon for seven years."

Rosalee sighed. "I know you don't mean that. If that was really what would make you happy you'd have never bothered to come to Hogwarts. You'd have just run off and started attacking defenseless little kids in Muggle neighborhoods, just like the one who turned you."

Remus raised his voice. "Don't pretend to know what happened to me. You don't know me."

"I do know you," Rosalee replied hotly, standing up and turning to face him. "You love books and chocolate and sweaters and tea and plants and magical creatures and defense against the dark arts. You love your friends and your family, and you would do anything to keep them safe and make them happy. You're good and sweet and kind and brave and loyal to the end; even when all the evidence says you should give up on someone, you hold out hope for them. You're patient and give good advice. You love to help people less fortunate, even when it means that you'll lose something for doing so. You're incredibly smart and clever."

"Stop," Remus growled. "Enough. Enough already with your sweet little fantasy of who I am. Ok, so maybe I am those things," he said as he stood up. "But there's a whole other side of me that you don't know." He crossed the short distance between them and pushed her roughly up against the stone wall of the passage. "I'm a werewolf. I'm fierce and dangerous. I'm a Marauder; 80% of our pranks are my idea, and 60% of the execution is from me." One of his hands gripped her hip, pulling her flush against him, and the other he placed beside her head on the wall. "I enjoy making the people who hurt my friends hurt. I enjoy getting into a good fight. When I'm a wolf, I love to go hunting; I love the thrill of the chase and get a sick little rush from killing little wild critters. It's the closest I can get to killing people, which would probably bring my adrenaline to an all-time high." His green eyes flashed as he leaned in closer to her, breathing on her neck and making her tremble under him. "In fact, that's the only reason I want to become an Auror, so I can hunt down bad people and catch them, put them in Azkaban where they can't hurt my friends anymore. I want to put criminals where they'll hurt more than any pain they could have caused any of us."

"Remus, stop," Rosalee whispered.

"No," Remus snarled. "You need to hear this. You need to know the truth about me. You need to know that I'm not a good guy. I'm dangerous, and you should keep a certain distance from me, and stay even further away from me around the full moon."

"No," Rosalee replied firmly.

Remus growled in response, deep in his chest, then said, "I mean it, Rose. For example, right now the full moon is four days away, and it's all I can do right now to keep my hands as still as they are. You know, ever since I hit puberty I've been dealing with some lustful thoughts around the full moon, but ever since you bloody got here it's hit an all-time high. I want you, dammit, and it's not fair to you, so stay away from me. I don't want you getting hurt."

Rosalee frowned. "Oh ok, I see."

Remus pulled back, surprised by her sudden change. "You do?"

Rosalee glared up at him. "Yes, I see. Because based on the way James and Sirius talked, I was beginning to think that maybe you had feelings for me, that you wanted a relationship with me. Of course, now that you've explained so thoroughly to me that I'm nothing but a skirt to chase when the full moon makes you horny, I'll be sure to stay as far away from you as I can."

She shoved hard against his chest, and Remus was so shocked that he stumbled back a few steps, and Rosalee ran past him and raced up the stairs. When he regained his composure, he chased after her, calling, "No, Rose, wait! That's not what I meant!"

She yelled back, "No, don't bother. I see how things are now."

He insisted, "That's not all there is to it, though. I didn't mean -"

"Of course you didn't mean that," she sneered, pausing on the steps and leaning over the stair rail as it turned the opposite direction so that she was looking down at the werewolf on the set of steps below her. "That's never what you boys mean to say, but you certainly do say what you mean."

Remus sighed and argued, "I didn't mean it like that though! That's not all that attracts me to you. You're smart and brave and kind and…"

"Now it's your turn to stop," Rosalee snapped. "After all, why bother? You wanted to push me away, right? Well, now you have. I'll make sure to keep clear of you from now on."

"Rose, please," Remus pleaded as she turned to keep running away from him and he started chasing after her again.

He skipped steps and easily caught up to her as she reached the exit of the passage. He grabbed her by the arm, and she instinctively whipped around to face him with her wand pointed at him, the light from it nearly blinding him. Rosalee said, "Please, don't say anything else. You've said what you needed to say to keep me away from you. Your goal has been achieved. Don't insult me by trying to take it back now; if you keep trying to say that there's anything more to your feelings for me than sex then I'll never believe it." She glared up at him. "Please, if it's even a little bit true that you might feel something for me, then stop talking and let me go."

Remus hesitated for a moment, then released her arm. "Ok," he said softly. "I'm sorry."

Rosalee whispered softly, "So am I," then she turned and ran from the passage.

* * *

The next morning, James sat down beside Rosalee at the Gryffindor table for breakfast. She looked up at him, surprised because she'd already spotted the other three Marauders sitting considerably further down the table. She raised an eyebrow at him, but all he said was, "Morning, Rose."

She tilted her head to the side as she grew even more confused. "Potter," she said suspiciously. "What do you want?"

James frowned as he gathered for himself a plate of pancakes and fruit. "Remus told me about what happened last night."

Rosalee sighed and stabbed viciously at the French toast on her plate that was slowly growing soggy from the maple syrup. "I see."

"I don't think you do," James replied easily. She glanced over at him as he ate a strawberry. Swallowing, he continued, "He's falling for you, you know. Head over heels, madly in love with you."

Rosalee snorted. "That's not what he said."

"You know good and well that he's just afraid of getting close to people, just like you are. He doesn't want to hurt you."

"So what if I do know that?" she said snippily. "Sure, he's keeping me from getting hurt by his condition when he pushes me away, but doesn't he realize that he's hurting me far more by keeping me at arm's length?"

James sighed. "Yeah, he does, but I think he realized that a little too late. He's very upset with himself for it."

"Well, he should be," Rosalee muttered, taking another stab at her French toast.

James placed a hand on her shoulder. Rosalee glanced up at him and thought that he looked rather sad. "Rosalee," James said. "You're both really hurting, and I don't like seeing my friends hurting."

"What exactly am I supposed to do about it?" Rosalee asked before taking a bite of syrup-drenched French toast.

James shrugged. "Talk to him?" he suggested as he cut himself a bite of pancake.

"And say what exactly?" Rosalee said, furrowing her brow as she stared down at the French toast that was now too mushy to eat and squished it with her fork. "I already tried to talk to him, and he just argued and pushed me away. Obviously, whatever feelings he has for me aren't strong enough for him to want to be with me, so why should I try to push him into something he clearly doesn't want?"

James said, "But he does want it. He's just too stubborn to admit it. He thinks he's protecting you."

"You mean the way he protected me from those gossip girls? Because that worked out so well."

James sighed, putting down his fork on his plate. "All right, so all four of us screwed up there. Doesn't mean that you shouldn't at least give him a chance."

Rosalee grabbed her bag and stood up, ready to head to Divination class. "I'm not saying I won't give him a chance should he ask for one, but I'm not going to put myself through hell chasing after him if he doesn't think dating me would be worth the risks."

James sighed. "Fair enough."

"Good," Rosalee mumbled. "Then I'll see you later." She took off quickly down the hall, heading to Divination class. She slipped into the classroom quietly and took her seat beside Sirius, who was unusually early to class. She raised an eyebrow at him as she asked, "Why aren't you sneaking in just after class started?"

Sirius grinned. "I might have wanted to talk to you."

"About?"

Sirius chuckled. "As if you can't guess?" Professor Murray called for their attention, instructing the class to look for the future in their scrying mirrors, and when they were done, to write three feet of parchment on the history and invention of scrying mirrors and how they evolved into psychomanteums. Rosalee sighed, then turned to the handheld scrying mirrors on their table. Sirius whispered, "Remus is falling for you, you know."

Rosalee sighed. "Then he should be telling me that himself."

"You told him not to."

"Because he was being an overprotective, horny, ridiculous ass."

Sirius snorted. "He's always overprotective of the people he loves, and he's only occasionally a horny, ridiculous ass. I'm pretty sure he'll work past that for you."

"I'm not," Rosalee muttered, annoyed. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to focus on our assignment now." Sirius nodded, and the two turned to their mirrors.

Rosalee stared into the glass of the mirror, but she didn't expect much. Other than that one instance at the start of the year, she hadn't displayed much of a talent for Divination, which helped things feel back to normal. As she stared into the mirror, though, she found herself shivering, goose bumps rising on her skin. The ornate silver handle of the mirror felt like ice in her hand. Black smoke swirled in the glass of the mirror as sound faded from her ears, growing more and more distant. Suddenly she was falling through the smoke, landing hard on her butt in a filthy, dilapidated old house. Glancing around, she realized that Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley were all behind her, looking quite frightened. In front of her, Professor Snape had Remus Lupin and Sirius Black at wand point. Snape was rambling, "How I'd hoped I'd be the one to catch you. I told Dumbledore you were helping an old friend into the castle, and now, here's the proof."

Sirius sneered, "Brilliant, Snape. Once again, you've put your keen and penetrating mind to the task and, as usual, come to the wrong conclusion. Now if you'll excuse us, Remus and I have some unfinished business to attend to."

Snape raised his wand to Sirius's throat, and Rosalee gasped. She stood up and tried to run to them, but the smoke returned and engulfed her. When the scene emerged again from the smoke, Remus Lupin and Sirius Black were pointing their wands at Peter Pettigrew, who was cowering and sniveling in fear. Remus said quietly, the tone of his voice making even Rosalee shudder with fear, "You should have realized, Peter, if Voldemort didn't kill you, then we would. Goodbye, Peter."

Rosalee screamed, "No, Remus, don't!" She tried to jump between Peter and Remus's wand, but instead of the floor, she stepped into a pile of smoke, falling through it with the sensation of dropping into a bottomless pit.

Suddenly heat shot through her arm, making Rosalee hiss with pain, and she felt a sudden jerk inside her own mind. Sound flooded into her ears, startling her, and she realized that the heat was from Sirius's hand around her arm that was holding up the scrying mirror. "Rose," Sirius whispered. "Come back to me. Are you ok?"

Rosalee stared at Sirius blankly, her mouth hanging open in alarm. She'd temporarily forgotten the horrors that Sirius was doomed to endure in the future, and Remus too, for that matter. She'd forgotten how much older they'd been when she'd been so much younger. The one thing she wasn't sure of was how she'd gotten into that scene, seeing as the last time she'd experienced this was what she'd thought was an incredibly vivid memory, but this was different. She hadn't been there for that. She shook her head as she suddenly dropped the mirror, terrified. "What's happening to me?" she whispered, barely loud enough for Sirius to hear it.

Sirius frowned. "What do you mean?"

Rosalee buried her hands in her hair, twisting her fingers around the brown roots and holding tightly. "I'm rubbish at Divination. What are these things? What's going on with me?"

Consoling her as best he could, Sirius rubbed her shoulder blade and asked, "What exactly is happening?"

Rosalee sighed, then shook her head. "Nothing. Forget it. Let's get back to work, yeah?" Sirius eyed her suspiciously, but then shrugged and went back to staring hard at an empty mirror.


	7. Chapter 7

**November 1977**

"Peter, you're waving your wand around too wildly," Rosalee said with a sigh. Peter frowned, staring at the common room fireplace. "It's ok. Just move your wand in tiny little circles, and focus on your happiest memory. You can do this."

Scrunching up his face, Peter focused as hard as he could, his wand movements much more neat with this attempt. "Expecto Patronum." A vague silvery mist about the size of an apple produced from the tip of Peter's wand, then quickly dissipated. Peter groaned and threw his wand down on the coffee table and dropping to sit on the couch behind him. "I can't do this."

Rosalee sat down beside him. "I think you can, Peter," she encouraged. "It's an extremely difficult spell, but you've mastered difficult magic before. It just takes time and practice, ok?"

Peter nodded as Remus walked up behind the couch. Clearing his throat, Remus said softly, "Hey, Wormtail, mind if I talk to Rosalee for a minute?"

Peter jumped up. "Yeah, I'll just go up to the dorm room and keep practicing. Thanks for your help, Rose."

Rosalee smiled at Peter. "No problem." Peter took off quickly up the boys' stairs, leaving Rosalee alone with Remus. She glared at the tall werewolf. "Last week you wanted me to stay away from you," she said coldly.

"Last week I was a stupid git," Remus replied mildly.

"And this week?"

Remus thought for a moment. "This week I'm in my right mind," he decided.

Rosalee had to try to keep glaring at him instead of breaking into a small smile. "And what do you have to say now that you're supposedly in your right mind?"

Sitting on the back of the red couch, Remus leaned closer to her so that he could speak more softly. "I'm still dangerous for you to be around," he said. "But if you don't care, I don't care. I like you, Rose, a whole whole lot. I would like to take you out on a date. I'd like to get to know you, and I'd like to fall in love with you." Rosalee hesitated, her conscience wavering. She knew that the man she'd known as Professor Lupin had married a pink-haired Auror not long before Rosalee had needed to go into hiding. She wasn't sure if that mattered now or not, or if she was just setting herself up for heartbreak down the road. Remus continued, taking her hands in his. "Please, Rose? Give me a chance."

Rosalee couldn't keep the slight smile off her face anymore. "Are you sure you're serious about this?" she asked softly. "I don't want to take a chance on this just to have you push me away again later."

Remus gently brushed a strand of fading blonde hair from her face, then held her cheek in his hand. "No, I'm not Sirius; he's over there playing wizard's chess." Rosalee snorted, a little surprised that Remus of all people would make that pun. "But I do promise to let you hex me into oblivion if I try to pull that mess on you again."

Rosalee glanced up, pretending to think a lot harder about it than she was. "I think I might require a little more convincing," she teased.

Remus's green eyes glinted with mischief. "Ok. I can be more convincing," he said playfully.

He hopped off the back of the couch and walked to the other side of the couch, climbing onto the coffee table. He cleared his throat, then loudly called for the attention of the entire common room. Rosalee started to turn bright pink and hissed, "Remus, what on earth are you doing?"

With a wink at her, Remus answered, "I'm taking a page out of James's book." Turning to address the rather crowded common room, he announced, "I just thought I'd stand up here and tell you all that Rosalee Dumbledore is the most beautiful girl in the entire world. She's an absolute angel in this world. She's kind; she's thoughtful; she's caring. I'm falling head over heels for her, and I now ask her to do me the honor of allowing me to take her on a date."

Rosalee shook her head. "Remus, get down," she said softly. "You're making a scene."

"That's the idea, love," Remus said with a laugh. He dropped from the coffee table, falling onto one knee in front of her. Making sure that the entire common room could hear him, Remus continued overdramatically, "Please, Rosalee. I'm a miserable mess without you. My life is empty; I need you desperately. Without you, I am nothing but a wild animal. I'm begging you, Rose; tame my wild heart. Make me yours."

Throwing her head back with laughter, Rosalee yelled over his ramblings, "Ok, ok, ok! Yes, Remus, yes! I'll go out with you!"

A wide smile spread on Remus's face, and he instantly swooped down and kissed the living daylights out her. The common room exploded into clapping, whoops, and hollers, Sirius Black being the loudest of all. "Way to go, Moony!" Sirius yelled as James pout, the two sitting together at a table in the far corner of the common room.

"Now how come when I do that for Lily, she gets mad at me?" James whined.

Sirius teased, "Because girls actually like Remus."

By the time Remus finally stopped snogging Rosalee, most of the other students' attention had drifted away from the two. Rosalee said quietly, "In a few weeks, there's this Christmas party."

"Slughorn's party?"

Rosalee nodded. "Yeah, were you invited?"

"No, but Sirius was."

"Oh, well maybe that could be our date then? You could be my date for the party," Rosalee suggested.

Remus smiled. "Sure. Whatever you'd like." He kissed her forehead, making her start blushing again.

* * *

 **November 1977**

A couple of weeks passed, and Rosalee was walking to Defense Against the Dark Arts class, growing more and more perplexed by her experiences with her Divinations class. She'd had two more of what Professor Murray kept insisting were "visions" of the future in the last two weeks of class, both of different moments in the battle at the Department of Mysteries that she couldn't remember for sure whether or not she'd actually seen them. Sirius was beginning to eye her suspiciously, and Rosalee didn't like it one bit. He'd even tried to talk to her about it a couple times, but she'd managed to avoid the subject with a little ingenuity. As time passed, though, she was beginning to worry that Sirius might bring it up to one of the other boys, and then she'd have to dodge two of them, and she didn't like her odds of being able to keep that up.

Rosalee saw Evan Rosier walking down the hall toward her. Instantly she glued her eyes to the floor, hoping that if she didn't look at him, he wouldn't notice her. While he and the other Slytherins hadn't messed with her anymore since James gave them all detention, she also hadn't seen any of them without one of the Marauder boys around to make them steer clear of her. Apparently, the Gryffindor boys were the only reason the Slytherins had left her alone because Rosier walked right up to her and grabbed her upper arm. "Hello, Dumbledore," he sneered.

"Goodbye, Rosier," she snapped, trying to tug her arm from his vice-like grip.

He laughed darkly. "What's your rush?" He moved closer to her, forcing her to back away to try to keep distance between them until she hit the wall. "I hear you're dating that Lupin fellow now."

Rosalee snarled, "Yes, I am, and if you don't let me go -"

"What?" Rosier snickered. "He'll kick my ass? I'd like to see him try."

"Actually," Rosalee retorted. "I was going to say I would kick your ass, but I'm sure he and our friends would love to contribute their own hexes." Reaching up, Rosier cupped Rosalee's face in his hand. She tried to slap him as hard as she could, but he let go of her arm to catch her by the wrist before she made contact. He pushed the hand on her face further back and tangled his fingers in her hair and tugged it hard. She glared at him and hissed, "Let go of me, you Death Eater pig."

"Tsk, tsk," Rosier replied, oddly calm. "Temper, temper, Dumbledore. I just wanted to let you know that we haven't forgotten about our promise to you at your little initiation. We would very much like for you to join us."

Rosalee laughed humorlessly. "Remember how I spit in your face the last time we had this conversation? Perhaps I need to refresh your memory."

Rosier let go of her hair and slapped her hard across the face, making her head snap to one side. "Oh, just shut up already," Rosier said with an irritated sigh. "Now then, where were we? Ah, yes, I've also heard rumors lately that you might be a seer. Is it true?"

Rosalee didn't turn her head back to face him after the slap. After only a moment of thought, she kneed him in the groin as hard as she could. He let go of her, bending over and grabbing at his crotch as she took off running down the hall as fast as she could. She heard him yelling and chasing after her. She turned the corner that led to the corridor of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and slammed into Sirius, where he stood with Remus. The two Gryffindor boys looked at her in confusion. "What's up with you?" Sirius asked just before Rosier appeared behind her.

"How dare you, you filthy little —" Rosier started, only to be interrupted by Remus's wand appearing in his face.

"Another word against her and I will drop you faster than you can say quidditch," Remus growled viciously.

Sirius hugged Rosalee tightly, shielding her from the Slytherin's gaze. Rosalee said softly, "Remus, let him go. He's not worth it."

Sirius added, "Come on, Remus; class is about to start. We'd better get inside."

Rosier smirked, looking past Remus and locking eyes with Rosalee, sending a shiver down her spine. "I'll see you later, Dumbledore," he said with a wink.

Remus snarled, "The hell you will. Stay away from her." Rosier sneered at the three Gryffindors, then turned around and walked away. Breathing deeply in an attempt to calm himself, Remus faced Rosalee and gingerly took her face in his hands. The slap to her face from Rosier had left her skin tender, though, and the slight pressure from Remus's fingertips made her flinch away from his touch with pain. "What happened?" Remus asked worriedly.

Rosalee shook her head. "I'm not sure," she mumbled. "He cornered me in an empty hallway and started going on about joining the Death Eaters and then slapped me, so I hit him in the groin and ran away."

A low growl rumbled deep in Remus's chest. "I'll kill him."

Sirius nodded. "Don't worry, Moony, we'll get him. Right now we have to get inside that classroom though, ok?"

Remus nodded, and the three Gryffindors walked in and sat down together at the back of the classroom just as Professor Artemyn, standing in the front of the classroom in lime green robes, started his lesson. They were working on Patronus Charms again that day, as for the last two weeks, no one had managed to produce even an incorporeal patronus that could properly protect someone. Elbow on her desk, Rosalee rested her chin on her hand and frowned at her wand. Even though her anxiety had calmed some in the recent weeks, she still hadn't managed to produce her patronus again. Her little Ocicat patronus had been her only companion in her days on the run, and she dearly missed it. Suddenly, a bright white light exploded into the room as a small, misty rat scurried from the end of Peter's wand. Smiling open-mouthed, Peter was practically bouncing in his seat with excitement. "I did it! I did it!" he exclaimed.

Rosalee joined the rest of the class in clapping for him. Remus leaned over and whispered, "I guess your tutoring did the trick. Have you produced one yet?"

Rosalee replied sadly, "I used to produce them all the time, but then… things changed."

Taking her hand under the table, Remus breathed in her ear, "You can do it too. I'm sure of it." Making small circles with his wand, Remus said, "Expecto Patronum."

A large wolf leaped from his wand, racing across the room and chasing Peter's rat around the desks. Its shape began to flicker as Remus frowned at the form his took. Rosalee squeezed his hand under the desk. "Wait," she whispered. "Stay focused on your happy memories. Don't let it go away just yet." He hesitated, but then nodded, and his patronus took on a more solid wolf body as it played with Peter's rat patronus. Rosalee closed her eyes and took a deep breath. At first, memories of the werewolf that attacked her in the forest leaping at her, spit dripping from its bared canines, gold eyes hungry and vicious, played in her mind, but she forced them away. Instead, she thought of the time she had been spending with Remus, and the way he'd kissed her in the common room when he'd asked to take her on a date. "Expecto Patronum," she said softly. Opening her eyes, she saw a bright white wolf standing in front of her on her desk, looking at her curiously.

Sirius clapped loudly and said, "Very well done, you two! A matching pair of wolves, how very sweet."

Rosalee looked around the room for Remus's patronus, and when her eyes landed on it where it stood on the other side of the classroom, she shook her head. "But my patronus is a cat," she mumbled.

Rosalee's patronus — apparently now taking the form of a wolf rather than an Ocicat — hopped down from the desk to rush over to Remus's wolf and pounced on him. The two tumbled to the floor, snapping and playing with each other, as Peter's rat raced in the direction of Peter's desk before dissolving altogether. Professor Artemyn said, "Very well done, you three. Forty points to Gryffindor for your outstanding achievement."

Looking happier than Rosalee had ever seen him, Remus said, sounding awestruck, "You have a wolf, too."

"I suppose I do," Rosalee said thoughtfully, biting her lip anxiously as she watched her patronus chase Remus's across Professor Artemyn's desk.

Remus looked at her as his patronus dissipated. "You don't like it," he said sadly.

Rosalee met his gaze, surprised. "What? Oh, no no no, that's not it at all."

"What is it then?" Remus asked, his tone bordering on snapping at her.

Taken aback by his sudden frustration, Rosalee tried to explain. "Every time I've ever cast my patronus before, it was a cat. I was just expecting to see a cat, not a wolf. I like my wolf," she insisted. She squeezed his hand under the desk again. Remus nodded but still didn't look convinced.

* * *

That night in the common room, Rosalee sat studying with Remus and James. The two boys were pouring over their unfinished Transfiguration essay, while Rosalee studied for an exam on Catoptromancy. She sat between the two boys on the couch in front of the fireplace, leaning back against Remus's shoulder with her legs stretched out and her feet in James's lap, being used to prop up James's rather larger textbook. Rosalee was reading a book on psychomanteums from the library and growing drowsy, struggling to stay awake as she read the same paragraph for the fifth time.

As she stared at the page, sounds began to fade away into the distance, and colors disappeared from her vision. Black smoke swirled around the edges of her vision, and she looked up to find that the common room had entirely disappeared. Instead, she was in a dark, damp room made of three stone walls, a wall of bars, and a stone floor. A tiny barred window let moonlight into what Rosalee soon realized was a prison cell. The black smoke that had toyed with her vision had gathered together and taken the shape of two dementors on the other side of the bars. Standing between the dementors, to Rosalee's horror, was Sirius. She could practically see the positive energy the dementors were draining from Sirius, but he didn't look afraid as the dark creatures opened the cell door. He laughed maniacally as one of the dementors shoved him forward into the cell. Rosalee pressed herself into the corner of the room, as far away from the dementors as possible, but Sirius didn't move as they closed the door, then stood there and stared at him. He continued to laugh darkly, loudly, the sound sending shivers down Rosalee's spine. She tangled her hands in her hair at its roots and pulled at it, all the fear and anxiety of her days on the run flooding back into her mind. Images of dancing Death Eaters and prowling werewolves danced across her vision, and her nerve endings came alive with the fiery memory of the Cruciatus Curse. She screamed.

Sirius's eyes snapped to her, the same madness in his eyes she'd seen in his mugshots when he'd escaped from Azkaban. A psychotic grin spread on his face when he seemed to recognize her. He crossed the cell quickly and put his hands on either side of her head as Rosalee continued to whimper in terror. "I've killed them, Rosie Posie," he said, his voice surprisingly level and calm. "Why didn't you stop this?"

In a flash of gray light, the cell, Sirius, and the dementors disappeared. Rosalee was in the forest again, lost and alone. Except, she wasn't alone anymore, as a whole pack of changed werewolves stalked out of the woods toward her, bloodlust in their yellow eyes. The feeling of fire in her veins doubled, and she screamed from both the pain and the panic that were overtaking her senses.

Another flash, almost like static on a Muggle television, brought Rosalee crashing back into the corner of Sirius's cell in Azkaban. She tried to collapse against the infamous prisoner of Azkaban but fell through him as if he were a ghost and crashed into the stone floor. Rosalee cried as tears ran down her cheeks, "I'm sorry; I don't know what to do. I want to go home."

"Rose, please. I'm begging you; come back to me."

Remus's panicked voice screamed through Rosalee's mind, far louder than her own screams. Her eyes snapped open, and she found herself lying on a rug on the floor in front of the ruby-colored sofa in the common room. Remus was leaning over her, holding her hand tightly in his. She jumped, startled, yanking her hand from his and sitting up quickly, scooting back away from her former professor. "Lupin, what are you doing?" she hissed.

Remus frowned at the sudden behavioral change, reaching out to gently touch her face. He accidentally pressed against the still developing bruise on her face from Rosier's smack that morning, and Rosalee winced away from the pain. She looked at him almost as though she didn't recognize him anymore, and with her memories of her teacher Lupin mixed with the boy her age Remus that she currently knew, she wasn't sure she did know him. "Rosalee," Remus said slowly. "What was that? What happened to you?"

Rosalee shook her head. "I — I don't know. Why am I on the floor?"

Furrowing his brow, Remus said worriedly, "I thought you'd fallen asleep, but James said your eyes were still open. You weren't responding to us, and then you screamed and fell off the couch into the floor. James ran off to get Professor McGonagall."

Suddenly, Sirius appeared beside her, sitting down on the couch above and looking down on the two in the floor. Rosalee choked back another shriek at the sight of him; the way he'd looked in Azkaban, she'd looked so much younger than when she'd first met him. He'd looked more like he did right now in front of her, and the idea that he was to go to Azkaban shook her to the core. Sirius's face was grim as he asked, "So, Rose, now that James and Remus have seen it happen too, are you more willing to answer my questions about Divinations class?"

Rosalee grabbed two fistfuls of her own hair by the dark brown roots and tugged hard at it, biting her lip with a soft whimper of anxiety until she accidentally drew blood. Remus asked as he reached for her hands and gently disentangled them from her hair, "Wait, what's been happening in Divinations class?"

Sirius answered, "I think she's been having visions. Like, for real, I can see the future kind of visions. She's only had a couple in class though. I didn't know she was having them outside of class too."

Rosalee shook her head as Remus held her hands, gently rubbing his thumbs over the back of her hands. "I haven't been," she said quietly. "They're changing. I don't… I don't know what's wrong with me."

"So you are a seer then?" Remus questioned.

"No… well, maybe? I don't know."

James came rushing around to stand behind Remus, McGonagall following shortly behind him. "Rose, are you ok?" James asked concernedly.

"What's happened here?" Professor McGonagall asked sternly.

Rosalee took a deep breath to prepare herself for the ridiculous lie that was about to come out of her mouth. "I'm sorry they bothered you, Professor," Rosalee said, smiling sweetly at the teacher. "I'm afraid I fell asleep studying and fell off the couch, and the boys had just a bit of an overreaction."

McGonagall looked suspiciously around at the four students' faces. "Hmmm." After a moment of thought, McGonagall said, "Very well then. Perhaps, Miss Dumbledore, you ought to eat a piece of chocolate then go to bed. If you kids will excuse me, I have a meeting with Professor Dumbledore to attend and no desire to be late."

After McGonagall had walked away, Remus turned to Rosalee and said softly, "Come on. We'll all go upstairs, and you can have a piece of chocolate from my stash. Then we can all sit down and have a little chat about what just happened, yeah?"


	8. Chapter 8

**November 1977**

Rosalee sat next to Remus on his bed, munching quietly on a chocolate frog. Three out of four Marauders watched her cautiously, while Peter kept asking James what had happened. Remus said, "That's rather a good question, Peter. Rosalee, what did happen?"

Rosalee thought for a moment, fidgeting nervously with a button on her Gryffindor cardigan. "I don't know," Rosalee said softly.

"Yeah, right," Sirius said. "You're a seer, aren't you?"

Rosalee sighed, then took another bite out of the chocolate frog. She chewed it slowly, and Remus took her hand and squeezed it tightly. "Rosalee," Remus pressed. "Please, trust us. We've already trusted you with the biggest secret of our lives. You can do the same."

"I know this isn't what you boys want to hear," Rosalee replied. "But I honestly don't know what's happening to me. I didn't grow up with this happening to me like you did, Remus. This is new to me, and I don't like it."

Sirius declared, "Ok, then we're going to figure it out with you."

Rosalee nearly choked on a bite of the chocolate frog. "I'm sorry?" she squeaked.

James said excitedly, "Yeah, he's right. We'll help you. Tell us what exactly you see, and we'll help you research it and figure out why you're seeing it."

Rosalee shook her head. "I don't think you guys want to know what I'm seeing."

Rubbing his thumb across the back of her hand reassuringly, Remus said, "Yes, we do. We want to help you."

"No," she snapped. "They're getting worse, and they're getting all jumbled up and confusing. You do not want to know."

"Rose —" Sirius started.

"No," Rosalee insisted. "You want to research it and try to determine if I'm really a seer? Fine, go ahead. I can't stop you. But I draw the line at telling you what I see."

"I already know you're having visions of us," Sirius said calmly. "I know they're none too happy either, and I won't lie, that scares me a bit. But please, help us to help you."

"No!" Rosalee yelled, standing up and ripping her hand from Remus's hold. "I won't."

Remus begged, "Rose, please. You should realize —"

"Shut up, Lupin," Rosalee snapped. "Don't finish that sentence. Maybe if you had treated him better, then James wouldn't have ended up —" Rosalee froze, panic filling her eyes.

"Ha!" Sirius exclaimed. "That's from one of your visions, isn't it? You can tell us the truth, Rosie Posie."

"Don't call me that," Rosalee muttered as she slowly sat back down on the bed, unsure her legs could hold her up anymore. She'd screwed up big with that slip, and she was sure there was no way to go back on it this time.

"What happened between me and Remus?" James asked quietly.

"Nothing, that's not what I meant," Rosalee whispered. "You two are fine, always were."

"Well, then what —"

"I can't do this," Rosalee whined, interrupting Remus mid-sentence. "You're all fine. Nothing's going to happen between you. I have to go talk to my grandfather."

Sirius scoffed, "You're gonna go down to Hogsmeade at this time of night?"

"You say that as though you think I can't," Rosalee replied.

"You can't," James said simply. "Not without our help."

Remus offered, "I'll take you there, Rose. I'll make sure you get there and back without getting caught."

Rosalee sighed. "Ok, fine."

"Take this," Sirius said, pulling a blank piece of parchment out of his back pocket and handing it to Remus. Rosalee recognized it to be Harry's Marauders Map, but she chose not to let on that she knew what it was. "You'll need it. This time of night you probably ought to go out through the Shrieking Shack instead of Honeydukes. You might set off a security charm if you go through Honeydukes."

"Got it," Remus said, taking the map from Sirius and offering Rosalee his hand as he stood up. Rosalee hesitated, then took his hand. He led her down to the common room and over to the exit, then paused and let her go to pull out his wand. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he whispered, tapping the parchment. The map appeared. Remus said, "This is another one of those things I'd like for you to keep secret about us if you don't mind." Rosalee nodded, then followed him through the portrait hole and down the corridors of Hogwarts. They made it to the third floor, then Remus threw an arm out in front of her to hold her back. "Quick, in here," he whispered hastily, pushing her into an abandoned classroom behind them.

There was a wardrobe in one corner of the room, and the two rushed over to it to hide inside. Rosalee opened the door and was bowled over by a giant wolf. She fell to the floor, landing on her rear, and stared up open-mouthed, horrified as the wolf from the forest towered over her. Remus whispered, "Rosalee, it's a boggart. It's not real."

Rosalee couldn't tear her eyes from the wolf's teeth as it stalked slowly toward her. It stepped onto her leg with one paw, its claws digging into her skin painfully. She raised her wand, trying to think of something funny to turn it into, but panic was clawing at her mind. Suddenly, she remembered Lupin's class about boggarts, and she said, "Riddikulus." The wolf transformed, growing taller and then sprouting feathers from his hat, and before her stood Professor Snape in Neville's grandmother's clothes. She struggled to keep her laughter quiet for fear of being caught out of bed, and Remus waved his wand, forcing the boggart back into the wardrobe and locking it. The wardrobe shook and rattled as Remus turned and walked toward the door. "Remus?" Rosalee called softly as she got back on her feet.

He paused at the door to check the map and didn't look at her as he said, more hurt in his voice than she'd ever heard from him, "You're afraid of me."

Brow furrowing in confusion, Rosalee whispered as she walked over to him, "What are you talking about? I'm not afraid of you."

"Your boggart's a werewolf, Rosalee," Remus said simply. "That means that your worst fear is a werewolf, which I am. Obviously, you're terrified of me, of what I am."

"Remus, you don't understand."

"What is there to understand?" Remus snapped. "I'm a werewolf, and that scares you more than anything else in the world."

"No," Rosalee hissed. "I'm afraid of a specific werewolf that attacked me; I'm not afraid of you."

Remus quirked an eyebrow at her, finally looking at her. "You've been attacked by a werewolf?"

"Yes," Rosalee admitted. "And I barely got away unscathed. So yes, I'm terrified of that wolf because he came seconds away from killing me, but I am not afraid of you."

"How am I supposed to believe that you're not terrified of me, knowing that that's happened to you before?"

Rosalee sighed. "I'll fully admit that I have no interest in hanging out with you on full moon nights, but I wouldn't be hanging around you constantly and have agreed to go on a date with you if I was afraid of you."

Remus thought for a moment, then sighed. "I'll accept that argument for now, but we've got to talk about that more later. For now, let's hurry up and get on down to the Hog's Head." Rosalee nodded, and the two took off again, as the passing prefect had left the corridor.

* * *

As the two Gryffindors reached the Hog's Head, Rosalee rushed ahead and entered the pub. It was still open, but only had two customers, both of whom looked rather rough around the edges. Remus was a bit on edge around them, but Rosalee insisted, "Wait here; I'm going to the back to look for him."

Remus nodded but didn't look happy about it. She left him standing next to the bar and headed into the kitchen, where she found Aberforth Dumbledore levitating a fresh keg of beer, two goats following him. He looked surprised when he saw her. "Rosalee," he chided. "What the hell are you doing here? It's the middle of the night. You ought to be in your dorm room. It's not safe for you to be down in Hogsmeade alone this time of night."

"I didn't come alone," Rosalee snapped. "And I've got bigger worries than curfew right now."

"I'm not concerned about your damn curfew, you silly girl," Aberforth replied with an equal amount of agitation. "There's a Death Eater in my bar right now, you foolish child. Where is your friend that you said came with you?"

The color drained from Rosalee's face at his words. "I — I asked him to wait by the bar."

Aberforth huffed, brushing past Rosalee with the beer. Rosalee quickly followed him, pausing in the doorway as Aberforth dropped the keg behind the bar. Remus had taken a seat at the end of the bar, two stools down from the other two wizards, who were looking at him with expressions that made Rosalee's stomach twist. Aberforth said gruffly, "You two, pay your tabs; we're closed."

One, a scruffy looking man with scraggly, graying hair and sharp blue eyes, growled, "What do you mean, you're closed? You're not supposed to close for another hour."

Aberforth started cleaning glasses. "I'm the owner; I can close whenever I like. Tonight, I'm closing now."

"Fine," the other man, face hidden by his cloak's hood, said. He threw money onto the bar without bothering to count it. "Let's go."

The two stood and started to leave, but the graying man turned back and dropped a hand on Remus's shoulder. He leaned in close and said, "Good to see you again, boy. I can't wait for you to join the rest of the pack, pup."

Horror mixed with anger covered Remus's face. He pulled out his wand and turned around, but the man was already vanishing out the door. Remus moved to chase after him when a spell from Aberforth zoomed past the werewolf and locked the front door. "Sit your ass down, boy. Don't be a fool. The last thing you want is for Rosalee here to have to see you get ripped to pieces by that nasty piece of work."

"Who was that?" Rosalee asked.

"Fenrir Greyback," Remus snarled. "I can't believe it took me so long to recognize that stench."

"He turned you," Rosalee said softly. Remus nodded. "I'm sorry."

Aberforth barked, "You two are both bloody idiots, sneaking out of that castle this late at night. What the hell did you two need to see me for so badly to risk nearly getting yourselves killed?"

"Well, forgive us for not knowing that at night in your spare time you play host to Death Eaters and their ilk," Rosalee retorted.

"I do because Albus asks me to, not that it's any of your concern," Aberforth replied hotly.

Remus sighed, his anger at Greyback deflating somewhat. "Rosalee is starting to have visions that she's refusing to tell us about, and they're affecting her very badly," Remus said calmly, dropping back onto the barstool he'd been sitting on before. "And I think I might need a shot of anything, and yes, I'm seventeen."

Aberforth pulled out a bottle of firewhiskey from under the bar and sat three shot glasses down on the bar and began to pour. "At this point, I suspect we could all use a little drink," Aberforth huffed. Rosalee took the seat beside Remus at the bar. The three raised their glasses, then threw back the shots. The cinnamon liquid burned Rosalee's throat, and she had to fight back a cough when she sat the glass back down. "Now," Aberforth said. "Tell me about these visions, girl."

Rosalee sighed. "I haven't told him, you know," Rosalee hinted.

"I keep telling you to tell those boys the truth. Stubborn little child."

"I'm not a child," Rosalee snapped.

Remus asked, "Wait a minute, so you're saying she is a seer?"

Aberforth raised an eyebrow at him. "You think she's a seer?"

"Well, what else could it be?" Remus replied.

Rosalee sighed. "I'm seeing things that happen," Rosalee said, trying to pull the two men away from the direction the conversation had turned. "But I'm starting to see things that don't make sense for me to see, things that it was impossible for me to have seen. They're starting to get jumbled with memories now, and people are starting to see me there and talk to me. I don't think I'm seeing the future anymore; I think I'm just losing my mind."

"You're not crazy, Rose," Remus insisted, covering one of her hands with his.

Aberforth countered, "Actually, you very well could be going mad." Rosalee's brown eyes snapped to meet steely blue ones, panic making her heart rate surge. "As far as I know, no one's ever been in your circumstances before, not so drastically, at least. Others who have made attempts at what you've done have accidentally maimed themselves, killed themselves or others, disappeared entirely, and almost all those who make it back home find themselves going at least a little mad."

"What do you mean? What has she done?" Remus demanded. "You make it sound as though she's done some sort of dark magic or something."

Aberforth and Rosalee stared each other down, daring each other to answer him. Finally, Rosalee caved. "Ok, I guess I don't have any choice anymore. Remus…" she started, but trailed off when she looked into his confused green eyes.

Aberforth sighed. "She's a seer," he said roughly. Rosalee's jaw dropped, and she stared at Aberforth in shock. "Her parents suspected for years, ever since she was a little girl. That's why they moved to France, to try to keep her talents from being discovered by You-Know-Who."

"So then why might she be going mad?"

Aberforth answered, "There's a history of mental illness in our family, and it tends to come out most in seers because visions of the future make it difficult to keep a grip on reality. Nothing more."

Remus glanced between the two Dumbledores suspiciously, but then he seemed to accept that answer. Rosalee said, "My memories of the way I saw the future happen before are starting to mix with my current visions, and now my visions are seeing me and talking back to me. Why?"

"The future is not set in stone. It's flexible, changing constantly with every decision made by everyone. By now, things have changed so much, I very seriously doubt that anything will happen the way that you remember it being before. As for why they're talking back to you, that I can't be sure of. You're sure that they were talking to you?"

"When a man in Azkaban looks straight at you and calls you Rosie Posie, you tend to get the feeling he's talking to you," Rosalee said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Aberforth mocked, "If a man in Azkaban called me Rosie Posie, I'd assume that the dementors have driven him into insanity." Rosalee stuck her tongue out at him as Remus snickered. "However, I do see your point. What did he say?"

She glanced nervously at Remus, swallowed, then said, "I've killed them. Why didn't you stop this?"

Aberforth frowned, and Remus looked horrified. "Who said that?" Remus asked.

"Trust me, you don't want to know the answer to that," Rosalee mumbled.

Aberforth said, "The people he says he killed. Did their deaths matter? What were the results?"

"I've told you the results before. Yes, I'd say their deaths were rather key to certain other events," Rosalee said angrily.

Aberforth sighed. "Then leave it alone. If you have to let them die to accomplish our goals, then let them die. At least, that's what Albus would say."

"They're my friends now," Rosalee said, raising her voice as she felt the firewhiskey burning slightly in her veins. "You made me let myself become their friend, and now you want me to just let them die?"

"Find a way to save them if you can, of course," Aberforth replied coldly. "But if you can't find another way to let things happen, then yes, you must let them die."

Jumping off the barstool, Rosalee insisted, "No, forget it. Go to hell."

She turned and unlocked the door and ran outside, with Remus chasing after her. Remus called, "Rosalee, wait!"

Stopping in the middle of the high street, Rosalee turned around and yelled at him, "Why, Lupin? Why are we doing any of this?"

Catching up to her, Remus reminded her, "It isn't safe out this time of night, remember? Greyback could still be hanging around here, and I couldn't bear to see him hurt you."

Tears built in her eyes as she shouted at him, "Why? What does it matter anymore? It's just an endless cycle of fighting, and we're all going to die anyway. Why should I even keep fighting anymore?"

Remus wrapped his arms around her, placing one hand on her lower back and the other on the back of her head, pulling her to him. She threw her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly as tears flowed down her cheeks. "We fight so that we can make this world a better place for those that come after us. We fight to keep evil at bay. We fight for love and friendship," he murmured softly into her hair, which had grown out considerably and was almost more brown than blonde now. "Come on, now. Let's get back up to the castle before we get caught out here, ok?" Rosalee nodded, and the two slowly made their way toward the Shrieking Shack.

* * *

The next evening, Rosalee was sitting in the library researching for a Care of Magical Creatures essay when Remus sat down beside her. "Hello," Rosalee whispered.

"We need to talk about last night," Remus said simply.

She tapped her quill nervously on the piece of parchment where she was taking notes. "What about last night, exactly?" she asked, trying to sound casual about it.

"Well, we should probably talk about all of it, but I was specifically thinking now would be a good time to talk about your boggart since you're already thinking about magical creatures," Remus replied, reading over her shoulder.

Rosalee couldn't help a small shiver thinking about the boggart. "What about it?"

"I have a very difficult time believing that werewolves are your worst fear, yet you aren't the least bit afraid of me."

"You are not someone I should ever feel the need to be afraid of," Rosalee said quietly. "But if I were to meet you on the night of a full moon, then yes, I suppose I would be afraid of you then."

"That would be quite reasonable," Remus conceded. "But that doesn't take away the fact that werewolves are your worst fear, and I'm a werewolf."

"Not werewolves, a werewolf attack. There's a difference," Rosalee insisted.

"Not enough of a difference," Remus sighed. "If you're with me, you're going to forever be afraid that I might snap. You're scared I'll turn on you at any time."

"No, I'm not," Rosalee argued.

"Fine, not any time then, just on full moons. Because that's a whole lot better," Remus growled, leaning in to look Rosalee in the eyes.

"That's not fair," she hissed. "I know that you'd never hurt me."

"But you don't know that when I'm in wolf form. No one does."

"So I'll become an animagus like that boys and run around with you at night, and then I will know for sure," Rosalee snapped.

"Absolutely not," Remus said, raising his voice. They couldn't see the source, but someone shushed them from somewhere in the stacks. He huffed, then started again more quietly, "Absolutely not, don't be absurd. I didn't even want them to do that, but they sneaked around and did it anyway. I don't want to take the chance of something going wrong with you."

"Yes, and that's your happiest memory, the memory you think about when you produce your patronus, so why would it be so bad if I did the same thing?" Rosalee asked.

Remus stared at her, stunned. "That's not the memory I was thinking about at all."

Scrunching up her face in confusion, Rosalee said, "It's not? But that's what you told Harry…"

"Who's Harry?" Remus asked, touching her hand lightly.

"Nevermind," Rosalee said. "If that's not what you were thinking about, then what was?"

Remus started turning red as his cheeks heated with embarrassment. "Well, I was thinking of you. How happy you made me when you agreed to go out with me."

Rosalee questioned, "Then why are you trying to push me away again?"

"Why are you keeping secrets from me?" Remus retorted. "Is Harry someone from your visions or something? And why won't you talk about your visions?"

"Yes, Harry is from the visions, and I won't talk about them because they're horrible," Rosalee insisted. "You're just looking for excuses not to go out with me."

"And you're just making excuses for not trusting me," Remus accused. "I most definitely want to go out with you. Damn it, I just told you that you saying yes to a date with me was my memory for my patronus. I don't want an excuse to not go out with you; I want to make sure that you really do want to go out with me. I'm far more concerned about you and the way that you clearly don't trust me."

"I do trust you," Rosalee said softly.

"Then talk to me," Remus begged. "Tell me about your visions, about the things you see. Talk to me about your past, where you've been, who you are. I'm falling head over heels for you, and I feel like I barely know anything about you, yet sometimes it starts to feel like you know absolutely everything about me. I can't even begin to understand it."

"I can't talk to you about it," Rosalee insisted. "It's not that I don't trust you; I just simply can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"Because Dumbledore told me not to tell anyone," Rosalee said heatedly, growing more and more frustrated.

"He's your family; why do you call him Dumbledore?" Remus asked suddenly.

"I just do," Rosalee snapped.

"Rose," Remus said, visibly trying to remain calm as Rosalee slammed her Care of Magical Creatures book shut and started packing up her things. "What's the point of me taking you out on a date if you are so closed off that it's almost impossible for me to get to know you?"

"You know everything you need to know about me," Rosalee replied.

"Well, maybe I want to know more anyway," Remus said. "I don't care what Dumbledore said you should do. Your grandfather said that he keeps telling you to tell me the truth about something, and I get the feeling there's a lot more to it than just you being a seer. Please, please, just talk to me."

"Why is this so difficult for you to understand?" Rosalee said angrily as she threw her bag over her shoulder and stood up to leave. "I can't tell you. I can't tell you any more about my past, I can't tell you anything about the future, and I can't tell you any more about who I am. You've no idea how freaking badly I want to talk about all of it, but I just can't."

"Where do you keep disappearing to?" Remus asked. Rosalee froze. "You keep disappearing off our map."

"Dumbledore's office," Rosalee lied.

Remus shook his head. "We always check there for you. You're never there. You completely vanish from our map, and that's extremely strange."

"Well, perhaps your map was wrong then. Maybe it lied to you; I don't know."

"The map never lies," Remus pressed. "Which begs the question, why are you lying to me?"

"I'm not —"

"Nevermind," Remus said bitterly. "If you're sneaking around, disappearing, lying to me, refusing to let me get to know you, then obviously there's something about you that's clearly too dangerous for someone like me. You don't trust me to be able to help you, so maybe I'll just take myself out of the picture so that's not something you have to worry about anymore."

"What does that mean?" Rosalee asked.

Remus sighed. "Let's just cancel our date," he said sadly, hurt all over his face. "If you don't trust me, then there's no point. As much trust as I have to give you to keep my secrets? I can't date someone who doesn't trust me just as much as I trust them."

Remus stood and turned to leave, but Rosalee stopped him with a hand on his arm. "Wait," Rosalee said. Remus turned his head to look at her, raising an eyebrow at her. "I can't tell you this stuff here."

"Then we'll go to the common room —"

"No," Rosalee insisted. "We can't risk anyone overhearing. Come on; I'm going to introduce you to the Room of Requirement.

* * *

Thank you for reading! Please leave a review; they make me happy!

Lots of Love,

WildestDreams72394


	9. Chapter 9

**November 1977**

As Rosalee pulled Remus into the Room of Requirement, he stared around at Dumbledore's Army's training room in awe. "What is this place?" Remus asked.

"The Room of Requirement," Rosalee replied. "It's unplottable and only appears to those who truly need it. This is where I disappear to. This is where I spend my time when I'm not with one of you boys. I hide here when I feel like I can't take things anymore. It's the only place in this castle that's not filled with strangers' faces." She turned around and faced him. "Or the faces of people I know who don't know me anymore."

Remus frowned. "What does that mean?"

Rosalee sighed. "I'm still not sure I should tell you everything," Rosalee mumbled.

He stepped forward, taking her face in his hands and making her look into his eyes. "You can trust me," he gently reminded.

Rosalee took a deep breath, taking hold of his forearms as he held her face. She said nervously, "My name's not Rosalee Dumbledore. It's Winters, Rosalee Winters. I'm a Muggle-born."

Brows knit in confusion, Remus said, "That's what you were so afraid to tell me? I don't care that you're Muggle-born. Why would you have to lie about that?"

Rosalee shook her head. "That's just the tip of the iceberg," she said softly. "I'm not from France. I spent 6 years already at Hogwarts before I arrived here, and over half a year on the run from Voldemort by myself. I don't know if my parents were murdered or not. I've fought in battles against Death Eaters alongside the Order of the Phoenix. I've flown on the back of a Thestral, which I can see now."

"How could you have done all those things? What is your connection to the Dumbledores?" Remus asked, brushing a falling piece of hair out of her eyes.

Shaking like a leaf under his touch, Rosalee answered, "Because I'm a time traveler. A curse broke my hour-reversal charm and sent me back twenty years. I'm not a seer, but I'm starting to have these freaky visions of moments I've already lived through, but they're getting worse because I'm seeing things I wasn't there for and the people in them are starting to talk back to me. Memories are getting jumbled in ways that don't make sense, and it's terrifying."

"A time-traveler?" Remus repeated skeptically.

"Yes, I know it sounds crazy, but it's true."

"How do I know that you're telling the truth this time?" Remus asked quietly.

Rosalee shrugged. "I suppose you can't until something I tell you happened in my past happens in what's now our future."

Remus thought for a minute, then let go of her face and walked around the other side of her, inspecting the room more. "What is this place?" he asked. "I mean, ok, it's the Room of Requirement, but what is this specifically?"

"Dumbledore's Army's headquarters," Rosalee answered. "My generation wasn't allowed to join the Order of the Phoenix, so we formed our own order and called it Dumbledore's Army because that was exactly what the Ministry feared."

"You were fighting the Ministry of Magic?" Remus asked in surprise.

"Indirectly. They were meddling with Hogwarts."

"So, all this stuff you say you did. That's why you're so good at dueling? That's why you have the panic attacks and the visions?" Remus asked as he approached a Death Eater dummy, examining it in utter fascination.

"Yes," Rosalee said just loud enough for him to hear. Remus wasn't reacting quite how she'd expected, so she wasn't quite sure what to make of his expression.

Remus tilted his head, then turned around. "What happens between me and James?" Rosalee looked momentarily confused. "The thing you were about to yell at me about the other night, then stopped. The thing from the future. What happens?"

Trying not to let tears form in her eyes, Rosalee tried not to blink as she said, "James and his wife were hiding from Voldemort under the Fidelius Charm, but his Secret Keeper gave him up to Voldemort. They were both killed, and his son was sent to live with Muggle family."

"Merlin's beard," Remus said, color draining from his face. "James was murdered?" Rosalee nodded, unwanted tears building in her eyes. "W-who was the secret keeper?"

Rosalee hesitated. "It wasn't you," she said slowly. "I don't know if I should tell you. I don't want to ruin your friendship."

Remus snapped, "If one of them is going to hand James over to Voldemort then you'd better damn tell me. I don't want to be friends with someone who's going to betray us later."

"Remus," Rosalee said cautiously. "If I tell you, then there's no hope of saving him from being taken in by Voldemort. If you push him away now, he'll become a Death Eater for sure."

"So you'd rather I just be deeply suspicious of both Sirius and Peter for the rest of my life until one day one of them shows their true colors?" Remus growled.

"No," Rosalee said heatedly. "I want you to be nicer to them than ever. The whole reason he'll betray James is because Voldemort makes him feel wanted when you boys don't, so if you'd just treat him better…"

"You honestly think that whoever the rat is can be saved by a little niceness?" Remus mocked.

"No," Rosalee said. "I think _our_ rat can be saved by love. If we just showed him more love maybe he wouldn't grow to hate us and resent us so much."

"Rat," Remus chewed on the word thoughtfully. "So it's Peter."

Rosalee huffed. "Don't you dare be anything but nice to him," Rosalee said angrily. "He's still a sweet boy, and he deserves a chance to be a good man. If you're the least bit cruel to him, you'll be taking away his only chance at feeling loved and accepted by us and the Order, and then it will be your fault if James dies and Sirius goes to Azkaban for it."

"What? Sirius went to Azkaban for James's murder?"

"He was thrown in jail without a trial for being a Death Eater and a mass murderer," Rosalee said sadly. "He was framed by Peter."

"I killed them; why didn't you stop this… Sirius was the man in the vision in Azkaban that talked to you, wasn't he?" Remus said, pieces starting to click together in his head.

"Yes."

"You switch back and forth between calling James and me by our first and last names. You knew us when we were adults?"

"I never knew James; I was friends with his son. They look so much alike, sometimes it's easier on me to call him Potter so that I don't accidentally call him by his son's name. But yes, I did know you. You were my Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher when I was a third year. You taught me how to banish boggarts and all sorts of other creatures. You taught me that werewolves weren't something to be afraid of. You taught my friend Harry how to cast the Patronus Charm, and he, in turn, taught the rest of us. I've seen you in battle, and I've seen you over Christmas at my boyfriend's house. I've seen you fall in love with someone else…" Rosalee trailed off, realizing what she'd said.

"I fall in love with someone else?" Remus asked quietly.

"That's up to you," she whispered. "I didn't exist in your life then like I did now, so I don't know who you're going to fall in love with now."

Remus stared at her for a moment, and she fidgeted with the sleeves of her Gryffindor sweater nervously. Her chocolate brown roots had grown out several inches, her hair now brushing her collarbones instead of her chin, and the blonde ends had turned brassy and dull. She felt oddly aware of this as he took her in, contemplating her. Finally, he said, "I want to fall in love with you."

Rosalee stood stunned, then stuttered, "Are — are — are you sure?"

Remus closed the space between them, took her in his arms, and kissed her hard. Her hands automatically reached up and tangled in his shaggy light brown hair and tugged her closer to him. He grabbed her hip with one hand and pulled her flush against her, deepening the kiss. Rosalee couldn't help but smile against his lips as he kissed her. When they broke apart, both breathing heavily, Remus said huskily, "Yes, I'm sure. I don't even want to know who that other girl was. If Peter isn't the same as when you knew him, then I'm not either. I want you." Rosalee's smile widened as he continued, "I don't care about what happens in the future as you remember it. I want you, and I want to get to know you. Tell me everything there is to know about you, Rosalee Winters."

* * *

By the time Rosalee and Remus returned to the common room that night, they were looking distinctly disheveled. They'd spent a couple of hours just talking before the night had devolved into an intense snogging session. As they stumbled through the portrait hole, their hair was a total mess, Remus's tie was half undone while several buttons on his shirt were still unbuttoned, which he was working on fixing. Rosalee's cardigan was inside out and one of her knee high socks was scrunched partially down her calf. A catcall from the other side of the room caught their attention, and they saw James, Sirius, and Peter waiting for them in the otherwise empty common room in their pajamas by the fireplace. "It's almost one in the morning, you naughty children," Sirius chided, grinning like a cat who ate a canary.

"Yes, you left us here way past curfew without even so much as a note, not even appearing on our map," Peter added.

James threw an arm around Sirius's shoulders and teased, "Your mother and I have been up all night just _sick_ with worry."

Remus rolled his eyes and said, "Guys, really, cut it out."

The other Marauders snickered. James said, "Well it certainly looks like you two had fun."

"We had more fun than you've ever had, I'm sure," Rosalee teased back.

Remus burst out laughing as James pouted. After a moment, he recovered and spout back, "I will have you lot know that Lily Evans agreed to go on a date with me today. I'm going to be taking her to Slughorn's Christmas party."

"Well, what do you know," Remus said. "Does that mean that hell also froze over today? Because I didn't think she'd say yes until that happened."

James glowered at Remus as his friends all laughed. "Back to how I'm Head Boy and our favorite little Prefect just came back to the common room with a girl well past curfew," James threatened.

"All right, all right," Remus said, raising his hands in surrender as he and Rosalee walked over to them and sat on the couch in front of the other three boys. "You win."

Sirius asked, "So I guess this means you two talked through things?"

"Yes," Rosalee answered. "I've confided everything in Remus, and he's promised me that he'll never tell another soul."

"Oh, come on," Sirius whined. "Remus, please tell us? Please, please, please, please, please —"

"I can't," Remus said. "I promised the girl I love that I'd not talk about it, and I won't."

James put a hand on Sirius's shoulder. "All right, I think we've given them a hard enough time tonight. Let's go to bed, yeah?"

* * *

The following Friday, Sirius and Rosalee sat silently in Divinations class. Rosalee looked anywhere but at Sirius, as he'd been intentionally ignoring her ever since she'd told Remus everything. Professor Murray was rambling on about palmistry, and Rosalee had never so badly wished she still had hold of some her ex-boyfriend George's Skiving Snackboxes. Finally, Murray said, "The rest of our class time will be spent reading each other's palms, and I expect three feet of parchment on my desk on the subject on Monday."

Sirius held out his hand to Rosalee without even looking at her. "Take your best shot," he mumbled.

"Sirius, I —" Rosalee started, but he interrupted her.

"Let's just get this done, yeah?" Rosalee nodded, then took his hand. Staring down at the palm of his hand, she traced his lifeline with a fingertip, barely brushing his skin. She felt him shiver at the slight touch. Suddenly, Rosalee's own skin felt like ice, and Sirius's hand felt like a ball of fire in her hands. Sirius frowned and his eyes snapped to her as he asked, "What the hell is happening?"

Black smoke licked at the edge of her vision as Rosalee answered, "I don't know."

The world faded away again, and the room turned into the Death Chamber in the Department of Mysteries as colors and sounds screamed back into oversaturation. Spells and curses were flying everywhere, and she still had hold of Sirius's hand, who was glancing around in confusion. "Where the hell are we?" Sirius exclaimed as he watched Dumbledore rounding up nearly a dozen Death Eaters.

Rosalee groaned, "No, no, no, how are you seeing this too? You can't see this!"

Sirius nearly jumped out of his skin as he heard his own voice, though a bit rougher and more mature, shouted, "Come on, you can do better than that!" That was when he saw an older version of himself dueling his cousin Bellatrix LeStrange and the Cruciatus Curse that hit him square in the chest and pushed him into the Death Veil, a mix of horror and shock in his eyes as he fell back and disappeared under the veil.

"No!" Harry shouted, throwing himself in the direction of the veil.

A much older-looking Remus Lupin threw himself in front of Harry, grabbing him tightly and yelled, "Harry, don't. He's dead, Harry; he's gone. We can't save him."

Rosalee and Sirius could hear Bellatrix's cackle across the chamber as she defeated an Order member whose name Rosalee didn't think she'd ever known. She ran from the room with Harry chasing after her. "James, wait, don't —" Sirius began, but then the black smoke overwhelmed the two of them again and dropped them back into their Divinations classroom. Head whipping around to look at Rosalee, Sirius demanded, "What the hell was that? Did I just watch myself die? And why was James so much younger than me and —"

"Sirius, Rosalee hissed. "For once in your life, it would be better if you could just shut up and at least try to be discrete." Sirius sat back quietly in his chair, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow at her. She whispered, "Yes, you just watched yourself die, although I'm not sure how you saw it too. That wasn't James, that was his son, your godson, and you were the only father he ever knew. That's the kind of stuff I see every time I have a vision, and it's horrible. I hate it. I don't want you knowing the things I see because you'll spend your life being reckless and stupid thinking you can't die until the moment I saw, but the fact is that I see something a tiny bit different almost every time, sometimes small changes, sometimes big. The fact is that just because I've seen possible moments from the future doesn't mean that it can't be changed so just forget it."

"I can't just pretend I didn't see that, Rose," Sirius said softly.

"Ok, so don't. But don't let it take over your life," Rosalee pleaded. Sirius nodded, then took Rosalee's hand to attempt to read it with considerably less accuracy.

* * *

Reviews, please! I read a comic strip called Pearls Before Swine at work today that basically said that creative people create because they crave the attention that comes from an audience to fill a long-standing need for acceptance and admiration. It then proceeded to compare creative people like me to strippers, and I died laughing. But the first part is true! I NEED reviews! I need attention and admiration, folks! So leave a review, please.


	10. Chapter 10

**December 1977**

When the night of the Slug Club Christmas party came, Rosalee was far from ready. She had intentionally avoided any of Gryffindor's parties since the first one of the school year, and the only reason she hadn't already changed her mind about going was that Remus was going with her. She sighed and looked in the mirror one last time. She'd finally dyed the blonde strands of her hair to match the brown roots, and she'd regained the weight she'd lost on the run, so she was finally starting to look like herself again. Despite that, she still only truly felt like herself when she was alone with Remus in the Room of Requirement. She smoothed the silk pale blue dress that James had insisted on buying for her the last time they had visited Hogsmeade before heading down the stairs to the common room, where Remus waited for her. He met her at the bottom of the girls' stairway and gave her a soft, sweet kiss. Pulling away, he said softly, "You look beautiful."

Rosalee turned pink and mumbled a thank you, and the two went down to the dungeons, where Slughorn had set up a rather spectacular party. Red, gold, and green decorations had exploded all over the room, which was crowded, hot, and stuffy. There were lamps containing fairies that shone brilliantly, and someone in some unseen corner of the room was singing Christmas jazz along with a big band that played. House elves from the kitchens scurried around with silver platters of food. Sirius came bounding over to them through the crowd. "Hello, you two, fancy meeting you here," he said with a laugh.

Rosalee giggled as Sirius swayed slightly, off balance. "Should I assume you've already been into the liquor?" she teased.

Sirius barked out a loud laugh. "Well, me and my date. You know Marlene McKinnon, don't you? She says she's in your dorm room." Sirius pointed to a pretty girl with white blonde hair, who waved and held up what looked like two glasses of scotch on the rocks. Rosalee and Remus waved back, and Sirius said with a wink, "She's an awful lot of fun to hang around. Well, I'll see you two later. I think I might just have to try to catch her under the mistletoe. You two have fun!"

Remus and Rosalee laughed as Sirius bounced back over to Marlene and took the glass of alcohol from her. Remus leaned in, whispering in Rosalee's ear, "What do we do now?"

Rosalee rested a hand on Remus's arm and whispered back, "I've got no bloody idea. I'm really starting to question why we're even here at all."

Remus pulled her further into the room until they found the band. He swung her around to face him, took her in his arms, and began to dance. Rosalee smiled at him as he said, "Well, at least we can get something out of it."

They danced through a couple of songs, the only pair in the room who had decided to dance. Remus paused them and said, "I'm gonna go get us drinks, ok? I'll be right back."

Rosalee nodded and watched Remus walk away to chase after the house elf carrying the drinks. A hand on her shoulder startled her, and she whipped around, one hand on her wand in the special wand-pocket of her dress. She found herself face to face with Rosier. "What do you want now, you slimy git?" Rosalee snapped.

Rosier smirked at her. "Now, now, Dumbledore. It's a party. I came over to ask you to dance."

"No, thank you," Rosalee snarled. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I believe it'd be best if I went and found my date."

Rosalee tried to step away but after only one step felt as if she had walked straight into a wall. As she turned to glare at Rosier, he explained, "Mistletoe, just above us. I'm afraid the enchantment on it won't let either of us leave this spot until we've kissed. It's been sprouting randomly all over the room all night, luckily for me."

"Stay the hell away from me," Rosalee hissed.

Rosier chuckled. "Which would you rather be forced by this plant to do, stay for several hours in this spot and enjoy my charming company, or kiss me and be able to go back to that pathetic Gryffindor you call a date?"

"Get the hell away from her, Rosier," Remus's voice snarled just behind Rosalee, and she breathed a sigh of relief at the sound.

"Ah," Rosier said, his grin growing even wider at seeing Remus behind Rosalee. "I know this is just going to eat you up, but I can't go anywhere, and neither can your precious little Rose. See that mistletoe above our heads? She can't leave until she kisses me and breaks the enchantment on it."

"Remus?" Rosalee pleaded for his help in that one word as she turned to face him, but all she found was a pair of hard green eyes glaring daggers at Rosier.

"Just do it," Remus said, fury filling his voice. "Get it over with quickly so I can kill him."

Rosalee took a deep breath to steel herself, then turned back to Rosier. "Fine, Rosier, but hurry up," she snapped.

"Oh no," Rosier said with a laugh. "You misunderstand again. See, I have no intention of being the one to kiss you. I'm sorry, but if you want to break this enchantment, you're going to have to come to me and kiss me."

"You son of a —" Remus began, but Rosalee interrupted him.

"Fine." Rosalee took another breath to steady her nerves, then reached up, grabbed the dark hair on the back of his head, and pulled his face down to hers, giving him a good, solid kiss. She felt a shiver go down her spine when their lips touched, and when he stuck his tongue in her mouth, her stomach turned. Then she pushed him away and slapped him as hard as she could. His head snapped to the side from the impact, and she hissed, "Never come anywhere near me again, you sick, disgusting git."

Rosalee turned around to Remus and grabbed his arm, but he yanked it away. "Oh, no, he's not getting off that lightly," Remus growled in a low, threatening voice, pulling his wand from his pocket.

Rosier glowered back at him, also drawing his wand. Rosalee protested, "Remus, let's just go."

"He's been harassing you for months now," Remus snarled. "Enough is enough. I'm going to teach him a lesson."

"You're going to land you both in detention," Rosalee corrected. "Please, let's go back to the common room."

"Listen to your witch, mate," Rosier said, a haughty smirk on his face. "She's being very sensible about the matter."

"Remus, please," Rosalee begged, taking hold of his arm again.

Sirius appeared beside them, leaning on Remus's shoulder, his wand lazily pointed at Rosier. "I don't know what he did this time," Sirius said coldly, sounding much soberer than he did earlier. "But whatever it is, I can handle it, Moony. Get Rosalee out of here."

Remus sighed. "Fine. But first…" He flicked his wand at Rosier and muttered, "Mucus ad nauseum." Rosier instantly sneezed and started sniffing. "Now we can go," Remus said, taking a firm hold on Rosalee's head and leading her out of the party and up to the seventh floor, opening the Room of Requirement the way that Rosalee had taught him.

When the door appeared, it looked quite different than it did for the training room. He led her inside, and they found a small bedroom in muted blue and gray tones. There was a fireplace, a large bed, a nightstand, and very little space. For such a small room, it was quite cozy and comfortable. Rosalee trembled as Remus led her over to stand between the bed and the fireplace. "I hate him, the slimy Death Eater," Rosalee whispered bitterly.

"It's over now. I'll never let him anywhere near you again," Remus replied, pulling her in for a hug.

Rosalee snorted. "I think you say that every time we have to deal with him," she said.

Remus huffed. "Well, this time it'll be true."

He pulled back enough that he could look into her eyes, and she looked up at him sadly. "Remus," Rosalee said nervously.

"Hmm?"

"I think that might have been the most disgusting thing I've ever done. Please, make me forget it," she requested quietly.

Hesitating, Remus pushed her hair from her face as he asked, "Are you sure, Rose? I know we've already snogged some, but I don't want to rush us into something you're not ready for."

Rosalee reached up and captured his lips with hers, grabbing his hair at the base of his skull and tugging on it to pull him closer to her. She nipped at his lower lip, and he moaned softly in response. Remus gripped her hips fiercely and turned her so that she had her back to the bed, then pushed her down onto it and hovered over her, nipping and licking his way from her jaw, down her neck, to her shoulders. She squirmed and whimpered under him, pulling him closer. Rosalee whispered in her ear, "Yes, I'm sure. I want this. Take me." Remus came alive then, pulling her dress off and kissing her roughly as she undressed him.

* * *

The next morning, Rosalee woke up with her head resting on Remus's bare chest. As awareness returned to her, she remembered their escapades from the night before and realized that they were both still naked. Nervously, she glanced up at his face, to see that he was still asleep. He looked so peaceful, she couldn't help but smile and sigh contentedly, snuggling against him happily. She was surprised when she both heard and felt his voice reverberate through his chest as he mumbled, "Morning, love."

Rosalee looked back up at him in surprise and found his green eyes staring back at her filled with more love than she could ever remember seeing in anyone before. "Morning," she softly replied.

He gently took hold of her chin and pulled her lips up to his, giving her a soft, sweet kiss before saying, "I love you, Rose."

Rosalee's breath caught in her throat. After a moment, she recovered and smiled at him. "I love you too, Remus."

"The boys are going to give us hell when they find out," Remus said with a chuckle.

Rosalee grinned. "I'd say it was worth it."

"Agreed," Remus replied with a smirk, followed by another kiss.

* * *

 **Christmas Day 1977**

Christmas morning came faster than Rosalee had expected. She spent the morning in front of the fireplace in the common room with the Marauders, curled up in Remus's lap under a navy blue blanket that James had given her. The boys had mostly given each other candies, quidditch supplies, and Zonko's joke products, as had Rosalee with the exception of a book called _Healing at Home with Herbs_ she had given Remus. Peter and Sirius had both given Rosalee her favorite candies from Honeydukes, and Sirius had also given her a recently released book on divination. Remus had given her a necklace, just a simple sterling silver chain with a trinity knot pendant on it, but Rosalee loved it. After exchanging gifts, the boys had all started playing with their new toys, and Rosalee munched on some crystallized pineapple. As the day went on, Rosalee found her stomach churning more and more. When James looked up at her from a game of wizard's chess with Sirius, she was slightly green. "Rose, you ok?" James asked.

Remus looked up from his book and looked at her. "What's wrong?" he asked softly, feeling her forehead to see if she had a fever.

Rosalee shrugged. "I'm ok. Just nauseous." Remus frowned at her worriedly, but James shrugged and went back to his chess game. After a moment, Remus nodded and went back to reading.

* * *

 **January 1978**

Sitting with Sirius at their usual table in Divinations class, Rosalee listened to Professor Murray's lecture with her heart racing and her stomach turned upside-down. She felt a tap on her hand, and she looked to see Sirius handing her a note. It read, "Are you still sick?"

Rosalee sighed heavily and nodded. He frowned. Rosalee had been struggling with nausea and vomiting almost every day since Christmas, but she refused to go to the hospital wing for it. As it was days from February, it was obviously becoming something to be concerned about. Rosalee had her suspicions about what was wrong with her, though, and she was in no hurry to find out if she was correct. Professor Murray dismissed them to staring at leaves in tea cups. Rosalee took Sirius by the hand as she examined his tea cup, squeezing his hand to steady her nerves. She was having visions during almost every Divinations class, and she'd found that the future she saw was beginning to diverge further and further from the life she'd experienced. As she stared into the cup, black smoke licked at the edges of her vision, and colors and sounds waned. The classroom disappeared, and a hospital room came into view in screaming color. There was the sound of loud crying, and Rosalee and Sirius stood in shock at the foot of a hospital bed, in which Rosalee herself was resting. She squeezed Sirius's hand tighter to keep herself grounded in the fact that what she was seeing was not real and that she hadn't lost her mind. Remus sat on the edge of the bed beside her, leaning over her and the newborn baby in her arms. Both of their faces shone with love as they stared at the tiny little blue bundle in Rosalee's arms. "He's beautiful," the vision's Rosalee whispered, dazed.

"He looks like you," Remus said as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

The Rosalee that held the baby laughed softly at that. "He's got your eyes, though," she said, tucking the blue blanket closer to her baby boy's chin. "Elijah Remus Lupin."

Remus looked to the doorway, where another young Sirius leaned casually against the door frame. "Sirius, you're still ok with being the godfather, right?" Remus asked. Sirius nodded at him, grinning from ear to ear.

The scene melted away, and the real Rosalee and Sirius found themselves back in the Divinations classroom. Sirius immediately whispered, "Rose, are you pregnant?"

Rosalee quickly pulled her hand from his. "Maybe," Rosalee breathed. "I don't know for sure, but if that's what I'm seeing…" Not bothering to wait for the class to end, Sirius took Rosalee by the hand again and pulled her to her feet, running from the classroom with her as Professor Murray demanded they return to their seats. "Sirius, where are we going?" Rosalee demanded as he tugged her along down hallways and secret passages.

"The Hospital Wing," Sirius replied as they exited a passage to find themselves on the first floor just outside the Hospital Wing.

"Oh," Rosalee said quietly.

"So is that why you've been avoiding coming here? You thought you might be pregnant?" Sirius asked. Rosalee nodded. Sirius sighed. "Well, now you need to know, so let's get this over with, yeah?" She nodded again and followed him into the Hospital Wing.

* * *

That afternoon, Sirius had to practically drag Rosalee to the common room kicking and screaming. "I don't understand why you're being so dramatic about this," Sirius huffed as he tugged her along the seventh floor corridor toward the Pink Lady. "You've seen what's going to happen. He's going to be thrilled, and he'll love you more than ever. Why are you fighting me?"

Leaning away from him and pulling as hard as she could against his hold on her upper arm, Rosalee whined, "Because that was obviously months from now. Who knows how he'll react between now and then. I'll tell him, but I'm not ready yet."

"Sugar Quills," Sirius said cheerily to the Fat Lady, who swung the door open for them. As he dragged her through the portrait hole, Sirius said to Rosalee, "Too bad. He needs to know." Spotting Remus on the couch across the room, he called, "Oh, Moony, my darling!"

A few younger students chuckled at Sirius as the two seventh years crossed the common room to stand in front of Remus as the werewolf smiled up at them. "What can I do for you, Padfoot, my one true love?" Remus replied easily.

Sirius glanced at Rosalee, but seeing the nerves on her face, he said, "Rosalee has something awfully important to tell you."

Remus raised an eyebrow at them. "Ok…" he said slowly.

Rosalee folded her arms across her chest and looked anywhere in the room but at Remus, one foot tapping nervously. Sirius elbowed her gently and said, "Hey, come on, now, or I'm going to tell him."

Rosalee huffed. "Remus, I…" She took a shaky breath before starting again. "Remus, I'm pregnant," she whispered.

Remus's eyes grew wide with fright. "W-what?"

"Come on, mate," Sirius said excitedly. "You've got a little boy on the way, and I'm going to be his godfather."

Rolling her eyes, Rosalee said, "I somehow shared a vision with Sirius again, and we saw the three of us in the hospital with a baby boy."

"You're going to love him," Sirius encouraged.

"I can't have children," Remus said, shock filling his voice as the book he was reading fell from his hands.

Sirius frowned, confused. "Obviously, you can," Sirius corrected. "I made Rose go to the Hospital Wing earlier, and she is most definitely carrying your child."

Remus shook his head, and when his eyes met Rosalee's, fear gripped her heart when she saw the anger in them. "No," he snapped. "I mean I shouldn't. It's dangerous; it's stupid. What if I pass on my condition? I can't risk that happening."

Rosalee covered her mouth with one hand, using the other arm to hug herself tighter. "Remus," she said softly. "It's too late for that; it's already happened."

"Come on, Moony. Don't be like this," Sirius cajoled. "It's all going to turn out fine. From what we could see, your kid didn't show any signs of your monthly issue."

Remus stood up, leaving his book on the floor. "Fine, ok, whatever," he bit out. "Just give me some space to wrap my head around this."

Rosalee nodded, her hand still covering her mouth as she bounced in place nervously. As Remus started to walk away, Sirius grabbed Remus's bicep to stop him. "Hey, wait a minute," Sirius barked. "Don't just walk away; she needs you, now more than ever."

Remus turned and argued, "No, what she needs is a provider, someone to love her and take care of her, and I can't do that."

Sirius snorted. "Oh, don't give me that, mate. We all know you love her more than life itself."

"Of course, I do," Remus said. "But I can't provide for her. I can't take care of her. She'd spend the rest of my life, which is likely to be oddly short for a wizard, taking care of me and my condition. That's not fair to her, and what if it is passed on to the baby? Then even after I'm gone, she'll still be stuck dealing with my problem. She'll be a pariah; there's so much prejudice against me out there. She'll be an outcast, just like me."

"Oh, shut up, Moony," Sirius snapped. "What a load of rubbish. She'll love you both no matter what happens, and you'll love them. You'll do everything you can to take care of each other, and when money becomes an issue, James and I will take care of it, damn it. Things are going to be just fine."

"Damn it, Padfoot," Remus yelled, drawing attention from the other students in the common room. "I'm not going to bloody run out on her, so just shut the hell up. It's a surprise; I'm shocked; I'm scared. I need time to process it. Give me some space, damn it."

Rosalee said softly, tears in her voice, "Just let him go, Sirius." Sirius sighed, releasing Remus's arm and letting him disappear up the boys' stairs. She dropped onto the couch, heart racing more than ever and feeling sick. Sirius sat down beside her and put an arm around her shoulder. "He hates him," she whispered as unwanted tears streamed down her cheeks.

Sirius pulled Rosalee to him, smoothing her hair and gently rocking her. "No, no, no," Sirius insisted. "I'm sure he doesn't hate him. He did only just find out, and like he said, he's scared. I'm sure he'll come around."

* * *

It was around one in the morning before Remus came back down to the common room in his pajamas, where Rosalee still sat on the couch, curled up under the blanket James had given her for Christmas reading her Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook. Remus sat down beside her and placed a hand on her knee. She yawned, then looked up at him over the top of her book. "So, you had a vision about us?" he said softly.

Rosalee nodded, covering his hand with hers and squeezing it. "We're going to have a little boy, and…" she paused to yawn again. "He's the most beautiful little baby I've ever seen, you know."

Remus smiled a little at that. "Yeah?"

Rosalee smiled and nodded. "Yeah."

"And Sirius is the godfather, huh?"

Rosalee snorted. "It would appear so," she giggled.

Remus snickered. "Funny. I would have thought that I'd have picked James for that."

Rosalee said, "Funnily enough, I'd have thought so too." The two laughed at that, and Remus entwined their fingers together as he took a firmer hold of her hand. Rosalee added, "We overheard his name too, you know."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Mhmm."

"And what was it?" Remus prompted, scooting closer to her.

Rosalee smiled. "Elijah Remus Lupin," she answered.

Remus's green eyes lit up. "Elijah Remus Lupin," he repeated, grin widening. "That's perfect."

" _He_ was perfect," Rosalee said happily. "I saw myself holding him, and he was asleep, wrapped up in this little blue blanket with a tiny little blue hat on his head. You were sitting next to me, and you said he looked just like me. I disagreed, though. Apparently, he's going to have your eyes."

Remus took the textbook from Rosalee's hands and set it on the coffee table. Leaning forward, he captured her lips with his in a kiss. She felt the love pouring from him, and she tangled her fingers in his shaggy hair and yanked him forward, heating up the kiss. They kissed until they couldn't breathe anymore, and finally, Remus pulled away, making Rosalee whimper softly at the loss of contact. He smirked a bit at that, then said, "Rose, I love you more than anything in the world. I'm sorry I reacted so badly earlier. I promise that I'm never going to leave you or Elijah. I love you both."

Rosalee pulled him in for another breathtaking kiss. When she let him pull away, she said, "I love you too, Remus. I can't wait to be a mom."

Remus chuckled. "I can't wait to be a dad."

* * *

Reviews are incredibly welcome, so please leave one!

Lots of Love,

WildestDreams72394


	11. Chapter 11

**February 1978**

Rosalee was sitting in the library, working on a Charms essay, when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to look and nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw Severus Snape standing behind her in a Slytherin uniform. Snape asked politely, "May I join you?"

Rosalee hesitated, then nodded. Snape sat across the table from her, pulling out a potions book that looked far too advanced to be any Hogwarts textbook, even for a seventh year. As he flipped to the middle of the book, he said casually, "There's a rumor going around school that Lupin has gotten you pregnant." Rosalee's eyes hardened as she stared at him silently, waiting for him to get to the point. Snape pulled out parchment, a quill, and ink. He continued, "Frankly, whether or not you are pregnant is none of my concern. However, if the rumor is true, I believe you have a right to know certain truths about Mr. Lupin that you may not otherwise know, so I am asking you if he has indeed gotten you pregnant."

Rosalee replied, trying to be equally nonchalant, "Yes, it is true. However, I am already aware of these truths you feel so obliged to inform me of, Snape. You have no right to share what you know about him with anyone, no matter what the situation."

"Perhaps not," Snape said. "But it would be unwise of me to allow anyone to reproduce with that Lupin fellow without warning one about him."

"Well, this one is entirely aware of his issues," Rosalee whispered. "Although your concern is certainly appreciated."

"Were you aware that there are no records of werewolves reproducing with humans?" Snape said informatively. "The only recorded reproductions of werewolves were between two werewolves who mated on the night of the full moon, fully turned. Apparently, the offspring were permanently wolves with a near-human intelligence."

"What fascinating trivia," Rosalee said, struggling to remain calm.

"Isn't it?" Snape said.

"Do you have anything else you wish to tell me?" Rosalee asked.

Snape thought for a moment. "There is no moment in my life that I regret more than when I called Lily Evans a mudblood," he said, and despite his attempt to hide all emotions, for a moment Rosalee could see massive amounts of pain lurking just behind his eyes.

"I don't believe I have a close enough friendship with Lily Evans to be of much influence on your behalf," Rosalee replied gently.

Snape snapped, "I am not asking you to influence her in my favor."

A thought occurred to Rosalee. "Snape," she said. "You love Lily."

Snape met her gaze unflinchingly. "More than life itself," he admitted.

Rosalee tilted her head slightly. "Lily might be in danger one day soon. You would want to protect her, wouldn't you?" Snape nodded. "I don't know what your intentions are in regards to joining the Death Eaters." Snape paled ever so slightly. "But if you wish to keep her safe, if you do join the Death Eaters, you should become a spy for the Order of the Phoenix from day one. If you do, you might be able to prevent her death."

Snape's eyes widened. "So, it's true," Snape said quietly. "You are a seer."

Rosalee shrugged. "I neither confirm nor deny that statement," she whispered. "But if you want to prevent Lily's death, then you will spy for Albus Dumbledore rather than fight for Voldemort."

"I don't know if I would make a very good spy," Snape said cautiously.

Rosalee said, "Well, I do. In fact, I believe you would be so good a spy that no one but Professor Dumbledore will be one hundred percent certain which side you are on."

Snape thought for a moment. "This conversation has certainly given us both much to think about," Snape said, gathering his things and packing them up again. He stood up, throwing his bag over his shoulder, and said, "Good day, Miss Dumbledore."

Rosalee replied, "Good day, Mr. Snape."

As Snape quickly turned and walked away in the opposite direction, Rosalee felt a hand fall on her shoulder and lips plant a kiss on her cheek. "Hello, love," Remus's voice breathed in her ear.

Rosalee smiled and turned her head to kiss Remus on the lips. "Hello, baby daddy," she teased.

Remus rolled his eyes but couldn't help but smile. He sat down next to her and asked, "Why was Snape here?"

Rosalee lied casually, "Apparently Professor Slughorn asked him to offer me tutoring for potions class. I've not been doing very well in that class lately. All the smells in Potions class just make me so nauseated these days."

Remus frowned. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I'd help, but I'm not much at potions myself. If you need help, maybe Lily would be willing to help you."

Rosalee smiled at Remus. "I think I'll be ok. I understand the material and can usually make a passable potion. I think once the morning sickness goes away I'll be ok."

Remus nodded. "Oh, hey, I've got some good news."

"You do?"

"Yes," Remus said, grinning as he entwined their fingers to hold her hand. "I wrote a letter home to my parents the other night and told them about us and Elijah. They're thrilled."

Rosalee's brown eyes widened in surprise. "They are?"

Remus laughed. "Love, their son has a furry problem. If they can accept dealing with that every month, a curveball like this is practically nothing. All they care about is that we love each other and that I'm happy. They want to meet you."

Rosalee froze. "Th-they do?"

Remus used his free hand to smooth the hair on the back of Rosalee's head reassuringly. "Don't worry, Rose," he encouraged. "They're really nice, and I'm sure they'll love you as much as I do. So I promised them we'd meet them for dinner in Hogsmeade on Saturday."

Rosalee said anxiously, "That's in two days."

Remus said, "It'll be fine, I promise. They'll love you like a daughter, and I'm sure you'll love them too." Rosalee nodded slowly. "Hey," Remus continued. "I know you've said before how much you miss your parents and the Muggle world sometimes, and, well, I know it's not the same, but my mum is a Muggle."

Rosalee gasped softly. "That's right; I'd forgotten about that."

"Yeah," Remus said. "I think you two might get on really well. I mean, I know it's not the same, but I think my mum might like it if she could sort of be a mum to you, too."

Rosalee smiled and gently touched his cheek. "I would honestly like that very much."

"Good," Remus said happily. "So Saturday?"

"Yes, Saturday," Rosalee agreed.

* * *

When Saturday came, Rosalee and Remus walked down to Hogsmeade together hand in hand. They had to meet Aberforth for lunch in the Hog's Head, so they went ahead and went there before exploring the shops while they waited for Remus's parents to meet them for dinner at the Three Broomsticks. When they arrived, the bar was empty except for Aberforth and his goats, and he had set a shepherd's pie out on the bar for their lunch. Aberforth didn't greet them, just said, "Eat up, kids."

Rosalee and Remus sat at the bar as Aberforth stood on the other side cleaning glasses. They dug into the food, Rosalee with more gusto than Remus. She'd been struggling so much with morning sickness the past couple of months that the moments where she wasn't nauseous, she was absolutely starving. Still, she'd somehow managed to put on a couple pounds in spite of the inability to keep food down most days. Suddenly, Rosalee asked, "How are the goats doing?"

Remus looked at her curiously. Aberforth raised an eyebrow at her. "The goats are good," he said gruffly.

"What are their names?" Rosalee pressed.

Aberforth furrowed his brow, obviously confused by someone showing any sort of interest in his pet goats. "Cygnus and Cecily," Aberforth answered.

Remus chuckled. "I think the pregnancy hormones are getting to your head," Remus teased.

"That reminds me," Aberforth said. "You kids sure you know what you're doing?"

Rosalee frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I _mean_ ," Aberforth said. "There have never been any recorded cases of werewolves having children with humans, you're both barely seventeen, you're still in school, you've got no jobs and currently no job prospects, and you've got the added complication of one of you being a time traveler whose mind has been slowly unraveling."

"Hey," Rosalee snapped. "I'll have you know that my visions have stabilized, and my panic attacks have been happening less and less over the last couple months. I would hardly say that my mind is unraveling."

"All right, and what about everything else I mentioned?" Aberforth persisted.

"It's a bit too late to be worrying about whether or not the werewolf gene gets passed on to the child; he already exists," Remus pointed out as calmly as he could manage.

"We can get jobs after we finish Hogwarts, and the baby won't arrive until after we graduate, so I'm not seeing any issues there," Rosalee said before taking another large bite of shepherd's pie.

"It's not easy for a werewolf or their family members to get jobs out in the real world," Aberforth said roughly. "Albus has got you two up there in that castle living in a fantasy where hardly anyone knows about your lycanthropy, and the few who do know don't care. The reality is when you get out of there, everyone will figure it out fast, and when they do you won't be able to get jobs. Hell, you'll be lucky to be able to put food on the table for you and your kid."

"All right; I think that's enough," Remus said hotly, dropping his fork onto his plate. "Dumbledore, if you've got a problem with me, then just say so."

"All right," Aberforth said. "I don't like that you've impregnated my granddaughter."

Rosalee tossed in, "Let's all try to remember that I'm not actually related to you."

Remus retorted, "Well, it doesn't really matter at this point how you feel about it since it's already done. We're happy; we love each other."

"Love doesn't mean a damn thing during a war," Aberforth snapped. "Love doesn't put food on the table and a roof over your heads."

Rosalee said angrily, "Aberforth, it's none of your damn business what happens to us."

"Oh, isn't it? Well, then, I suppose I just won't bother offering your man here a job here with me."

Rosalee and Remus's jaws both dropped, and they gaped at him in surprise. "Come again?" Remus said, shocked.

"I don't like that you've got one up the spout, but I'm supposed to be your grandfather. How would it look if I let you go unprovided for?" Aberforth said curtly. "I'll put him behind the bar, but you, young lady, are on your own for finding work after Hogwarts once you can stand to be away from that baby for more than five minutes."

Rosalee bit her lip to hold back a smile. "I don't know," Rosalee said. "We don't need your charity, Aberforth."

"It's hardly charity," Aberforth growled. "I've met house elves who weren't willing to work in this dump. It's hard work with long days and long nights. He won't be able to spend too much time at home with you and the baby to help me keep this place going."

Rosalee glanced at Remus, who was still processing what was happening. "Well, I suppose we don't have much choice, although I'm sure he'll be leaving here the second a better opportunity comes around, so I wouldn't plan on keeping him long," Rosalee said, struggling to keep the happy lilt out of her voice.

Aberforth huffed. "Oh, yes, of course. Silly me, thinking I'd have help around here for years. I completely forgot the upcoming werewolf hiring spree in July."

Remus's mind finally caught up with the conversation, and he sprang to life. Jumping up from his stool, Remus grabbed Aberforth's hand and shook it hard. " _Thank you,_ " Remus said, a bit over enthusiastically.

* * *

That evening, Remus pulled Rosalee excitedly by the hand into the Three Broomsticks. He could feel the slight tremble in her hand as she shook with nerves, so he pulled her closer and threw an arm over her shoulders, saying softly in her ear, "It's all going to be just fine, sweetheart."

Her palms felt sweaty as Rosalee whispered back, "What if they don't like me?"

"They'll love you," Remus reassured. Spotting his parents at a table in a corner of the pub, a huge smile crept over Remus's face, and he let go of Rosalee to race over and give his mother a hug. Her graying light brown hair made Rosalee wonder just how much of a toll the wizarding world had taken on Muggles like her. The thought reminded her of her parents, how nervous they must have felt when they sent her to Hogwarts for her first year, the fear they must have experienced when the Second Wizarding War began, their terror when she'd run away in the middle of the night to hide from the Snatchers and Death Eaters when the Ministry fell to Voldemort… "Rosalee, these are my parents, Hope and Lyall."

Remus's voice broke her out of her reverie. Rosalee smiled as best she could and shook Lyall's hand, but Hope pulled her into a hug. "It's so very good to meet you, Rose," Hope said cheerfully. "Remus has told us so much about you."

Lyall added, "We hear you're very good at Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Rosalee nodded as the four sat down. "Yes, I've had some very good teachers," Rosalee replied, fidgeting with the trinity knot pendant around her neck that Remus had given her for Christmas.

Hope reached across the table and held Rosalee's hand. She said softly, "He also told us that you're a seer, but don't worry, sweetheart. You're secret is safe with us."

Lyall elbowed Hope. "Darling," Lyall warned, still wearing a loving smile as he looked at the love of his life.

Hope laughed. "What?"

Cheeks burning, Remus said, "I hope you don't mind me telling them. They've done such a wonderful job keeping my secret and protecting me my whole life, so I just knew we could trust them to keep you safe, too."

Heart racing, Rosalee tried to recover from the surprise and said as casually as she could manage, "Oh yes, of course. That's perfectly fine."

Hope asked, "So, Rose, dear, when are you due?"

Rosalee could feel her face heating up as she answered, "August 26."

"Oh, that'll be such a nice time of year to have a baby," Hope said with a smile. "Have you seen anything in the future about it?"

"Mum," Remus groaned. "Please."

Hope laughed. "What's the matter, sweetheart? I'm just making conversation."

Lyall shook his head with a smile. "It's not considered particularly polite in the wizarding world to ask seers about their visions, unless of course they've been paid to look into your future," Lyall informed Hope as Remus's face grew even redder.

Rosalee laughed softly. "Honestly, I'm more than used to it from our friends," Rosalee said. "I've only had one vision about him so far, but he's a boy. His name is Elijah Remus, and he's the most beautiful little boy I've ever seen."

"Awww, how lovely," Hope cooed. "I have an idea. Would you like to go shopping for the baby with me? We can get baby clothes, toys, diapers… Unless you'd rather go with your mother, which would be completely fine, of course."

Remus nearly choked on his butterbeer. Rosalee hit his back a few times as he coughed it up. "Mum," Remus gasped. "Rose's parents were killed by a dragon last summer."

Paling, Hope mumbled, "Oh, dear goodness. I'm so terribly sorry, Rose; I didn't realize…"

Rosalee shrugged. "It's all right."

"I got so caught up in telling them everything else, I forgot to mention that," Remus rushed. "Rose, I'm so sorry…"

Rosalee gently rubbed Remus's back with one hand, placing her other hand on his shoulder. "Really, it's fine," Rosalee said softly. "It's totally fine. I can handle it." Looking back at Hope and her green eyes, so like Remus's, she added, "I'd love to go shopping with you, Mrs. Lupin."

Her face relaxing, Hope replied, "Oh, please, call me Hope."

Lyall said, "Rose, what are your plans for after Hogwarts?"

Rosalee bit her lip for a moment. "I'm not really sure. I was going to join the Order of the Phoenix straight after school, but given the circumstances…"

Lyall nodded, tapping his fingers on the glass of his mug of butterbeer. "Well, perhaps then you could move in with us after school is over."

This time it was Rosalee who choked on her pumpkin juice. Remus patted her back soothingly as she recovered. "Really?" Rosalee wheezed as she caught her breath.

Hope smiled widely and exclaimed, "Oh, yes, of course! That'd be perfect. You and Remus could stay together that way so it'd be easy for him to be with baby Elijah, and that way Lyall and I can help take care of you two and our little grandbaby."

Remus started, "Mum, maybe…" but was cut off by Rosalee suddenly grabbing hold of his arm hard enough to cause him pain as black smoke began to lick at the edges of her vision. "Rose, what's happening?" Remus asked as Rosalee gasped. The room dissolved and reformed as a bright, sunny yard. There was a tiny cottage off in the distance, and Remus looked at Rosalee, eyes wide. "Is this what happens with Sirius?" Remus asked.

Rosalee nodded, then glanced around. She spotted herself and Remus under an apple tree, looking a few years older. The older Rosalee stood at the base of the tree, staring up it and shouting, "Harry James Potter, you come down here right this minute."

Remus was a few feet away from Rosalee, laughing. "Rose, just leave the poor boy be," Remus said.

The real Remus squeezed Rosalee's hand tighter and whispered, "Is that your friend Harry? Was he James's son?"

Rosalee nodded as the Rosalee from the vision insisted, "Absolutely not. He broke a lamp flying around on that silly broomstick Sirius gave him, knowing full well he's only supposed to fly outside. He's coming down right now, and I'm taking away that broom for a week."

The scene dissipated in a cloud of black smoke, and Rosalee blinked as the Three Broomsticks came back into her sight. Remus's parents were watching them with worried eyes. Lyall was saying, "It's nice to know that a simple Reviving Spell can bring you back from a vision in an emergency situation."

Remus swallowed hard. "Rose, is it just me or did it sound like we were —"

"Yes, I think so," Rosalee said breathlessly. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to show you…"

"It's all right," Remus said before quickly downing the rest of his butterbeer.

Hope asked softly, "Are you two ok?"

Her stomach felt rather cramped and she was shaking like a leaf, but she said anyway, "Oh yes, we're fine. Thank you."


	12. Chapter 12

**February 1978**

Sitting between Remus and James in Defense Against the Dark Arts class the Tuesday after meeting Remus's parents, Rosalee tapped her wand against her desk nervously, purple sparks occasionally shooting from the end. Her heart was pounding, her breath was shallow, and her stomach was cramping more than she could remember it ever cramping during her period. Remus noticed her sweat-soaked forehead and hands and frowned. Whispering under Professor Artemyn's lecture on basilisks, Remus asked, "Sweetheart, are you ok?"

Rosalee shook her head. "I feel horrible," she muttered. "I don't know what's wrong."

"It's not still morning sickness, is it?" Remus whispered.

Shaking her head again, she hissed, "No, this feels very different. I think something's wrong."

James leaned over. "Rose," he said quietly. "I don't want to alarm you, but there's blood dripping from your chair."

Rosalee and Remus looked down. Rosalee gasped at the sight of a pool of blood developing under her chair; she'd noticed the sticky wet feeling on her legs but had thought that it was just more sweat. Suddenly, the cramps in her stomach changed as a sharp pain tore through her abdomen, every bit as excruciating as any Cruciatus Curse she'd been put under, making her cry out and grab her stomach. "Rose," Remus exclaimed, instantly jumping up from his seat and grabbing hold of Rosalee's shoulders.

"Mr. Lupin," Professor Artemyn scolded. "Sit back down."

"Sorry, Professor," Remus said. "I can't do that. I have to take Rosalee to the Hospital Wing. It's an emergency."

Sirius and Peter whirled around in their seats, eyes wide. Immediately, the other three Marauders were out of their desks as well, crowding around Rosalee as Remus pulled her from her seat. The group of Gryffindors headed for the door as Professor Artemyn huffed, "Honestly, you boys get back here."

James called, "Sorry, Professor, I have to help Remus take care of Rosalee."

Sirius added quickly, "And I have to take care of Remus."

As the other four disappeared out the door, Peter stumbled, "And I have to, um, well… Oh, I'd just rather be with them than here." Then Peter was out the door after his friends as Professor Artemyn took away fifty house points from Gryffindor.

* * *

As the Gryffindors entered the Hospital Wing, Rosalee shrieked and squeezed Remus's hand hard enough to break bones. Black smoke was curling around the edges of her vision, and, refusing to go into a vision at that exact moment, she whipped out her wand and pointed it at herself. "Rennervate," she said, and the black smoke dissipated. "Remus, make it stop," she whimpered as he eased her onto the nearest bed as James ran to get Madame Pomfrey from her office.

Rosalee thought she could see tears building in Remus's green eyes. "I would if I could, sweetheart," he said hoarsely.

Sirius rested a hand on Remus's shoulder as James raced back to the bed with Madame Pomfrey. The mediwitch immediately took command of the situation and ordered, "All right, everyone out but Mr. Lupin."

Sirius patted Remus on the back before walking back toward the door. James gave Remus a hug, and Peter came closer where Rosalee could see him better. Peter took Rosalee's free hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Good luck," Peter said quietly, then the three Marauders left.

Once the boys were gone, Madame Pomfrey started waving her wand over Rosalee and murmuring incantations. Her face grim, she said, "I'm afraid this is not good news."

Rosalee snapped, "Well, of course, this isn't good news. What is happening to me? Is the baby ok?"

Madame Pomfrey hesitated. Remus took the nurse's hand and begged, "Please, Madame Pomfrey. What's wrong with my baby?"

Sighing, Madame Pomfrey said, "Miss Dumbledore, you're having a miscarriage. We'll have to send you and Mr. Lupin to St. Mungo's to receive proper care."

Rosalee's face drained of color, and her sweat felt like beads of ice on her forehead. "M-m-miscarriage? You mean our baby —" she broke off sharply and groaned when another stab of pain shot through her belly.

Remus continued slowly, "You mean our baby is… dying?"

Tears blurred Rosalee's vision as Madame Pomfrey said quietly, "I'll let the healers at St. Mungo's determine the details. I'm going to have Professor Dumbledore take you two over there, and I'll send owls to your families and let them know where you are and what's happening."

* * *

Several hours later, the healers left Rosalee alone in her bed in the hospital room to talk to Remus and his parents out in the hallway. The pain and cramps in her stomach had finally stopped, so she sat up just enough that she could see the Lupins through the large window in the wall. One of the healers had approached them, said something that Rosalee couldn't hear, and Remus completely fell apart. The mass of emptiness and pain in her chest grew even larger as she saw Remus burst into tears and sink to sit on the bench behind him. Hope wrapped her arms around her son and held his head to her chest, stroking his hair and doing everything she could to comfort him. Lyall was asking the healer some questions when Rosalee couldn't take it anymore and laid back down, lying on her side and curling up to hug her knees as tears blurred her vision. According to the healers, she'd had something called an inevitable miscarriage, and they'd reassured her that it was most likely caused by the wrong number of chromosomes in the baby and that there had been nothing she could have done to prevent it, as though that should be a comfort to her. Rosalee didn't know how long she'd been there like that trying not to cry when she heard the door open and close. A hoarse, broken voice reached her ears. "Rose, I'm so sorry."

Rosalee couldn't hold back the tears anymore at the sound of Remus's pain. Sobs wracked her entire body, and in an instant, she felt him crawling into the bed behind her and strong arms wrapping around her. She rolled over to face him, throwing one leg over his hip and burying her face in the crook of his neck. She shook like a leaf as he pressed her as close to him as he could and stroked her hair. "I-i-it's o-ok," Rosalee gasped out between sobs.

"You don't have to be so strong, Rose," he whispered, pressing his lips to the top of her head. "You can fall apart with me; I can take it."

Digging her fingers into his back, Rosalee hugged him as tightly as she could. She cried for another minute or two, not knowing what to say, then she sobbed, "Elijah's dead."

She felt Remus's arms tighten around her and his shaky breathing. "Yes, he is," Remus said, his voice betraying his broken heart.

"I'm so sorry, Remus," Rosalee whispered.

"It's not your fault," Remus reassured her. "They said there was nothing we could have done to prevent it." After a silent moment, Remus added, "I'm sure it's my fault. They said there was something wrong with Elijah's genes; it must've been from my lycanthropy."

Rosalee snorted as her breathing began to slow down to a more normal speed. "I doubt that," Rosalee mumbled. "I'm sure it's a lot more likely to do with me being from the future. Time travel must have messed up my system too much to have kids."

She felt a wetness in her hair, and Remus shaking in silent tears. "I don't believe that," he said quietly.

Rosalee didn't have the energy to argue with him, so they laid together in silence. A few minutes later, Rosalee asked, "Where did your parents go?"

Remus replied, voice cracking, "They went to find some dinner to bring us." Rosalee nodded against his shoulder. "Aberforth hasn't been by yet, but I'm sure he'll come."

"I don't care if he comes or not," Rosalee snapped.

Remus said gently, "Rose —"

"I just want my baby boy back," Rosalee cried as tears spilled down her cheeks again.

Remus kissed the top of her head, but hearing her pain, he couldn't hold back his own sobs. "I do, too," Remus said, his spirit crushed.

They laid tangled up together like that, crying in each other's arms, for a while longer, until Lyall and Hope knocked on the door and opened it, and Hope stuck her head in the room. "Hey, kiddos," she said softly. Something about her voice reminded Rosalee so much of her own mother's voice that it comforted her more than anything Remus had said.

Remus sat up and wiped the tears from his eyes, waving his parents into the room. They stepped inside, and Lyall shut the door behind them as he said, "We got burgers and chips for you two. Is that alright?"

Remus nodded. "Sure, Dad. Thank you." He helped Rosalee sit up and brushed the salty tears from her cheeks, then kissed her forehead before accepting a bag of food from his mother. He looked up at his parents. "Any sign of Aberforth?" he asked.

Raising an eyebrow, Lyall queried, "Aberforth Dumbledore? Professor Dumbledore's brother?"

"He's my grandfather," Rosalee mumbled as she opened the bag of food and pulled out a burger.

Oh, well I'm sure he'll be by soon, sweetheart," Hope said as she sat on the edge of the bed and pushed Rosalee's hair out of her face as she started to eat. "I'm so sorry this happened, sweetheart," Hope soothed. "Just so you know, Lyall and I are still going to be here for you, both of you, whenever you need us."

Wiping a bit of mustard from the corner of her mouth, Rosalee whispered, "Thank you."

* * *

That night, Hope and Lyall went home, leaving Rosalee and Remus alone in the hospital room together. Rosalee had already slept most of the evening after dinner, so the two were lying awake holding hands as Rosalee stared at the ceiling and Remus stared at her. Breaking the silence, Remus said softly, "You know, we could try again."

Rosalee's brown eyes grew wide. "What?"

Remus played with the ends of her hair as he said, "We could try again, you know, later, after school is done and we're settled into adult life. We could get pregnant again, have a baby. This could still happen; we could still be a family."

Rosalee closed her eyes as she felt tears burning her eyes again. "It wouldn't be Elijah," Rosalee whispered.

Remus took a deep breath. "I know it wouldn't," Remus said gently. "But I'd still like to have a family with you. I love you, Rose."

Rosalee opened her eyes and met his gaze before she said, "I love you too, Remus. I don't think I can go through this again, though."

Remus frowned and wiped a stray tear from her cheek. "I can't either," he murmured. "But just because it happened once doesn't mean it'll happen again."

"You said earlier that it was your fault, that it was because you were a werewolf. If that is true, then why would the results be different the second time?" Rosalee said, her voice devoid of emotion.

Remus flinched at her words. "I know. It may be true," Remus said slowly, choosing his words carefully. "But it might not be, and I want a family with you. I'm not going to let my condition come between us; that was one of your conditions for being with me, right?"

Rosalee's eyes looked hollow as she stared at him. "And what if it's my fault like I said earlier? What if it's because I'm from the future, because I don't belong here? What if it's because you were supposed to be with —"

"Don't tell me," Remus interrupted. "I told you; I don't want to know who she is. All I care about is you."

"I miss him already," Rosalee said, her grief leaking back into her voice.

Remus took a deep, shaky breath, reaching out and holding her cheek in his hand. "I miss him, too," Remus said hoarsely.

There was a knock at the door, and Remus got out of bed and crossed the room to open the door. The door opened to reveal James, Sirius, and Peter on the other side. Rosalee stared blankly at them, her emotions already pulling back inside. "How did you get here?" Rosalee asked.

Sirius answered, "Invisibility cloak and the map, then a little apparation. Piece of cake."

Peter asked quietly, "So what happened? No one at Hogwarts that knows will tell us."

Remus choked up, unable to hold himself together anymore. James took hold of Remus's arm and guided him back to sit on the bed. Rosalee didn't move, staring at the wall as she mumbled, "I miscarried. Elijah is dead."

Sirius froze midstep. "But the vision we saw," Sirius said. "He was here, and you two were so happy…"

Rosalee sat up and glared at Sirius. "And that's the only time we'll ever see him. The miscarriage killed him, and we can't fix it."

Remus took her by the hand and squeezed weakly. "Rose, please," he pleaded. "I can't take it anymore."

Rosalee looked down, fiddling with the trinity knot pendant she was wearing. After a brief moment of silence, she said, "He believes it's his fault because Elijah had too many chromosomes, so he thinks the werewolf genetics caused it. I think it's me; I think it's my genes that are all bent out of shape."

James insisted, "It's neither of your faults. Miscarriages happen. Do you two have any idea how many miscarriages my mum had before I was born? Hell, do you two realize how many miscarriages happen everywhere? Up to twenty percent of pregnancies end in miscarriage, so don't you dare blame yourselves for this." Neither Rosalee nor Remus moved to respond, so James grabbed Rosalee by the shoulders and shook her gently. "Rosalee, look at me. Look me in the eyes. Are you listening to me?"

Rosalee gasped in shock when James took hold of her. Her eyes snapped to his hazel ones, then filled with tears. "I'm listening," Rosalee whispered. "But I feel like I'm not even here right now. I mean, I _saw_ him. I saw his sweet little face; I fell in love with him. This can't be real, can it? This is just another one of those horrible nightmares, one of those awful horror show visions that I can't wake up from."

A sob ripped through Remus's body that almost sounded like a wolf howl. Sirius said, "It's too close to the full moon for this, mate. Come on, Moony; let's go for a walk."

Remus didn't fight, letting Sirius and Peter pull him up and out of the room. James sat down on the bed next to Rosalee and pulled her into a tight hug. She flinched but didn't try to tear herself out of his embrace. "Listen to me," James whispered in her ear. "I'm so sorry this happened, but you still have Remus, and you've still got your friends."

Rosalee shuddered as a chill ran down her spine. "I don't belong here. I don't fit in here. I just want to go home."

James sighed. "You do belong here," James argued. "This is your home now."

"I wish I'd never had that vision of Elijah," Rosalee said softly. "Maybe I wouldn't miss him so much if I hadn't seen him and heard his name."

James rubbed her back gently. "Yeah, maybe not. But it's ok to miss him, you know. I miss the three brothers and sister my mom miscarried before she had me, and I never met them. They're just names to me, but I miss them."

Looking at his face, Rosalee didn't see James sitting in front of her anymore; it was too easy to imagine that he was his son, Harry. Rosalee asked, "How can I keep on like this? I've already lost so much. I don't think I can keep doing this, Potter. I want out. I've done enough; I've seen enough. I don't care what happens anymore. I'm done. I want out; I want it to end."

James said calmly, "Rosalee, you'll keep going because you have to. That's what I'm going to do. I'm going to keep going until we win — or die. Don't think I don't know that might be how it ends for us all. I've guessed for a while now that it might come to that. Sirius told me you've had visions about him dying. From the way you look at me sometimes, I'd guess you've foreseen my death, too. If I have to die to keep my loved ones alive and safe, I'm ok with that."

A knock resounded on the open door. Rosalee glanced that direction to see Aberforth Dumbledore standing in the doorway. "Mind if I have a moment alone with my granddaughter?" he asked James roughly.

James nodded, standing and turning to leave. He paused, then squeezed Rosalee's hand. "It'll be ok," James reassured her. She nodded at him, and he left.

Aberforth closed the door behind James. "My condolences on the loss of your son," Aberforth said, unusually gently.

Rosalee replied, "My condolences on the loss of your great-grandson."

She watched Aberforth's eyes and was surprised to find they looked slightly watery. Aberforth huffed. "Yes, well, I would have been here much earlier, but I couldn't get away from the bar."

"It's fine," Rosalee mumbled, pathetically attempting to brush it off as if it were nothing. "I don't care. I don't care about anything anymore. I've had my fill of war and pain and death, and I just want it all to end."

"Oh, stop that now," Aberforth chided. "You do too care. If you didn't, you wouldn't wish you were dead instead of your baby right now." Rosalee's eyes widened as she stared at him, speechless. "You care so much you feel you could bleed to death with the pain of it. Don't pretend to not; I know how it feels to lose the ones you love. You know what my family went through when Albus befriended his precious little Gellert. I know what it feels like to lose your family and wonder if maybe it was your fault. The fact is that, unlike what happened back then, this was unpreventable. Accept that, and move on. Grieve, then accept the reality of it, and move on."

Rosalee leaned back against the plastic headboard of the bed and thought for a moment, running a hand through her hair. "What if I can't? What if I can't move on?"

Aberforth sighed, taking a few steps closer to stand within arm's reach of Rosalee. "Look, I'm an old man. I never had a family; I didn't feel like I wanted or needed one after everything that happened with Arianna. The only family I've ever been interested in was a family of goats, and I've always been ok with that. Then you come along, and my fool of a brother thinks the best thing to do is sticking me with you, force me to be the only family you have whether I like it or not, and frankly, I hated it. You're stubborn, childish, proud, brash, overconfident, a bit foolish, everything Arianna wasn't. I was not thrilled with my brother's idea, but he's the genius so like always, he got his way."

Rosalee snorted, rolling her eyes. "Oh yes, this is exceptionally encouraging, do go on," Rosalee drawled.

"Oh, shut your yap," Aberforth huffed. "I'm getting there. Over the last several months, I've gotten to actually know you, and you're still nothing like Arianna. You're brave, strong; you're a survivor, and as much as I loved her, Arianna wasn't like that. It's funny, actually, because you remind me most of myself."

"Stubborn, childish, proud, overconfident…" Rosalee repeated, smirking at the old man.

"Yes, yes, all of that," Aberforth interrupted, his annoyance not quite reaching his blue eyes. "The point of all this is that you still have family here, and you've still got that man of yours. I never properly moved on after Arianna died, but you can." Rosalee nodded, and Aberforth nodded back, but Rosalee knew that was the closest she would ever get to a hug from the man, so the moment still meant the world to her.


	13. Chapter 13

**April 1978**

"There you are!" Rosalee glanced up, peering around the thestral she was petting to see Remus hurrying toward her. "What on earth are you doing out here all by yourself?" he asked as he threw his arms around her in a tight hug.

The thestral snorted, stamping his foot in annoyance at the interruption of Rosalee's attentions, making Rosalee chuckle. Remus raised an eyebrow at her as she pulled out of his arms, saying softly, "I'm not exactly alone. The thestrals are here."

"Thestrals?" Remus's eyes darted around the seemingly empty clearing nervously, finding no sign of the magical creatures.

Rosalee sighed. "They can only be seen by those who have seen death, remember?"

Remus nodded, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, then back again. "Right."

"No one ever visits them, you know," Rosalee murmured, placing one hand on the thestral's cheekbone, the other hand stroking his nose, careful not to let her fingers accidentally poke into the exposed holes of its sinuses. "People think of them as bad omens, but they're not at all. Actually, they're quite gentle. Hagrid's been letting me help care for them. They spend a lot of time out here, ignored. I'd imagine they must get quite lonely."

"So this is where you've been hiding from me the last several weeks then?" Remus asked, covering Rosalee's still hand with his, jumping slightly as his fingers also made contact with the thestral's invisible but soft coat of black horsehair. "I've been quite lonely, too, you know. I've not seen you outside of class for over a month, ever since…"

"Yes," Rosalee interrupted, unwilling to hear what she knew Remus would say next. "Sometimes I hide from you and the boys out here; well, hiding from the world, really. I spend lots of time with Hagrid and Professor Kettleburn caring for magical creatures lately. Great way to expel all those maternal instincts I'm suddenly stuck with, you know? For example, did you know there's a Mooncalf burrow over by the greenhouses? They're really the sweetest little creatures. Last week, during the full moon, Professor Kettleburn had me help him collect their dung to give to Professor Sprout. She likes to use it as fertilizer for her plants. Fantastic experience, really."

Flabbergasted, Remus stammered, "F-f-full moon? Darling, what if I'd happened across you? You could've been —"

"But you didn't, and I wasn't," Rosalee replied calmly. "I told Black and Potter to make sure you didn't go anywhere near that part of the grounds because we'd be out there, and they succeeded."

Remus huffed. "So, you're still talking to James and Sirius, just not to me? You haven't said one word to me since we got back from St. Mungo's."

"Not true," Rosalee corrected, a wry grin pulling at the corners of her mouth. "I asked you for a spare quill in Transfiguration class just last week."

"Rose, this isn't funny," Remus groaned.

"I never said it was."

"Why are you pushing me away? This stupid distance between us is killing me. What, are you testing me? Seeing if I really love you? Have you seriously forgotten how much I love you?"

Rosalee winced at the pain in Remus's voice, focusing her eyes on the tranquil eyes of the thestral in front of her. "No," she said quietly, fingers stilling on the thestral's forehead.

Remus pushed, "Do you not love me anymore? If you don't, then just bloody tell me already, because I can't take this silence between us anymore."

"No, of course I still love you."

Stomping his foot impatiently, Remus yelled, "Damn it, what is it, Rosalee? What am I supposed to do here? Are you trying to punish me for the miscarriage or something?"

The thestral herd started at Remus's shout. The one Rosalee had been petting jerked its head out of her trembling hands and raced across the clearing to join the other thestrals. Rosalee's eyes stung as she whispered, "No, it's me, ok? It's got nothing to do with you. I've been in Dumbledore's office a lot; he thinks something in my past might reveal how to defeat You-Know-Who, and he's been putting me under legilimency to try to find it, and it's painful and exhausting. Then I've been spending time alone in the Room of Requirement and —"

"Exactly, you've been alone," Remus snapped. "You should've let me be there with you, alone together. That's how it's supposed to be, damn it; me and you against the world. And Sirius tells me that you spend most of Divinations class in some kind of deep trance, out of his reach. What, are you hiding from me, running away to your past to avoid the pain you feel with me in the here and now?"

Rosalee wiped her wet cheeks with the sleeve of her Gryffindor cardigan, turning and walking blindly away from Remus. "Shut up," she bit out, but the tears in her voice took away some of the intended venom in her tone. "You don't know what you're talking about."

Remus scoffed, and Rosalee could hear the crunch of leaves underfoot as Remus stormed after her. "Oh, don't I? You're not the only one who lost a son that day, Rosalee. Don't try to tell me that I can't understand. I loved him, too; you're not the only one in pain here. You're not the only one who wants to escape and forget. Did you know I spent our first week back at school hiding away in my dorm room, drunk off my ass? Of course, you didn't; you were too damn busy avoiding me to even notice! But don't think I didn't notice that you weren't there. I noticed that it had to be the boys who made me put the bottle down; it should've been you, Rosalee."

"Of course, it should've been me!" Rosalee screamed at him, not bothering to face him, throwing her hands in the air. "Because it's my responsibility to protect bloody everyone! Because it's my job to know the answers to how to win a war, to how to survive a miscarriage with our hearts intact, to know how to keep everyone bloody alive!"

A toad hopped across her path, and Rosalee stumbled in her efforts not to step on the tiny creature, as Remus dismissed her comments. "Of course, that's not all on you! Why would all of that be on your shoulders? Just because Professor Dumbledore is pressuring you to do all of that? It's absurd; if he's pushing you too hard tell him to bloody shove it."

An exposed tree root tripped Rosalee, and she fell forward, catching herself with her hands. A choked sob escaped her throat, her hands and knees stinging against the cool dirt floor of the forest, as Remus knelt beside her. He tenderly took her hands in his and carefully examined the scrapes on the heels of her palms. "Damn it, Lupin; I can't keep doing this to myself, to you. We're all doomed, don't you see that? I can't keep being so close to you and all our friends. We're all going to die, and I can't do anything about it. We're all fated to die, and you're destined to love someone else."

Furrowing his brow as he attempted to clean her scraped hands, Remus said patiently, "This again? That's why you've been hiding from me? I thought I was supposed to be the one who's insecure about what I am, not you. Forget destiny; there's no such thing as fate. We choose what to do with our lives, and I've chosen to love you, Rose."

"It's the reason I miscarried," Rosalee insisted. "You aren't meant to have a son for another twenty years, and she's the mother, not me. I've seen it."

Remus sighed. "Darling, you've seen a lot of things that never happened and never will. Honestly, your visions are ridiculously subjective and fluid; they're hardly reliable predictions of how the future will actually turn out for us."

"But —"

"Nope," Remus said firmly, giving up on cleaning up her hands without soap and water, standing, and helping Rosalee to her feet. His face had softened considerably as he's spoken. "It's getting dark, Rosie. Come back to Gryffindor with me," he pleaded. "Spend the night with me. I need you, Rosalee Winters. Now more than ever, I need you with me desperately." Rosalee sniffled as Remus wiped tears from her cheeks, then nodded and let him lead her back to the castle.

* * *

That night, Rosalee sat up in Remus's bed as he laid beside her, seemingly asleep, her stuffed elephant Lyle clutched in her arms. She buried her face in the animal's gray fur, doing her best to muffle her tears. She felt a touch on her arm, and instantly, she trained her wand on the source, a silent wand-lighting spell revealing that it was Remus's hand. His eyes watched her, worry creasing his brow. "You're going backward," Remus whispered, not daring to move.

Swallowing hard, trying to choke down a sob, Rosalee asked as she put out her wand and lowered it, "What do you mean?"

Remus sat up slowly and wrapped his arms around her shivering form. Rosalee hadn't realized she was so cold until she felt the heat from his body flooding her, and she leaned into it gratefully. "You were starting to sleep through the night again," Remus muttered, pulling her into his lap. "The nightmares were going away; you weren't waking up screaming and crying during the night anymore. You were doing ok, but now you're having trouble sleeping again."

"They say trauma does that," Rosalee sniffed.

Remus snickered quietly, relieved she was still trying to joke. "I just wish I could help. I wish I could make it all go away for you."

"So do I," Rosalee whispered.

Remus rocked her gently, humming softly a song that Rosalee didn't recognize. After a few minutes, he mumbled, "Tell me something about you."

Rosalee frowned against his bare chest. "What do you mean?"

Remus shrugged. "Tell me about your childhood. Something happy that you remember from when you were a little kid. Anything."

Rosalee thought silently as Remus played gingerly with her chocolate-colored hair. "One day, my dad was away from work. I was probably only five or six at the time, and it was just me and Mum. So she was cooking dinner, and I came in the kitchen begging for a cookie. Well, you know how it goes, of course, Mum said no, it was too close to dinner time. But I was just a little kid, and they were Muggles; they didn't have a clue I could do magic. Not that I really knew at the time," Rosalee paused as she and Remus stifled giggles. "Well, anyway, Mum turned around to keep cooking, and while her back was turned, I summoned the entire cookie jar, which was like twice my size. I couldn't hold on to it, and it knocked me over. I fell, the jar broke, and the cookies went everywhere. Mum was furious; she didn't figure out how I'd gotten hold of it until I learned Summoning Charms in fourth year."

Remus shook with laughter, and as Rosalee leaned against his chest, the vibrations from his laughter warmed her, the place under her diaphragm tightening with the mix of her sadness and happiness from that memory. "I bet she laughed when she found out the truth," Remus said in her ear, his breath tickling her neck.

Rosalee nodded. "She did. I always thought she was a bit impressed with my accidental magic. Oh, it got better though, because the next day, I still wanted cookies, but she refused, said there was absolutely no way I was getting any cookies after what had happened with the cookie jar for a good week. That was an eternity then. She gave me these celery sticks to snack on instead, and I was never really a fan, so when she had her back turned, I accidentally transfigured them into chocolate chip cookies." Remus snorted, burying his face in her hair to keep from laughing out loud and waking the other boys. "Well, that just made her even more upset, especially since the cookies she'd made were snickerdoodles and she couldn't figure out where I'd gotten them."

"What a sneaky little devil you were," Remus teased.

Rosalee grinned, lifting her face to look into Remus's eyes. "What do you mean 'were'?" she whispered cheekily. "I still am, you silly Marauder."

Remus smirked. "Oh, are you? How sneaky?"

"Sneaky enough to keep up with you," she whispered. "What did you have in mind?"

Remus laughed silently, further warming Rosalee's chest. "Get dressed. I'll grab the Invisibility Cloak and the Map. I've got an idea you are going to love."

* * *

The next morning, Remus and Rosalee were having a very difficult time keeping a straight face as they sat down together at the Gryffindor table for breakfast. Sirius finally slammed his goblet of pumpkin juice on the table and demanded, "Not that I'm not glad you two are back together, but what the hell are you two so bloody giggly about?"

Rather than answering, the couple descended into a fit of laughter, completely incapable of speech. Peter whispered, "Maybe they tried to use Cheering Charms on each other and went a little overboard?"

James shook his head. "Nah, Remus only gets giggly when he thinks he's gotten away with something. What's up, Moony?"

A flash of light and a loud bang echoed from an explosion at the Slytherin table. Snape stood, a pair of briefs in his hand. The Marauders howled with laughter as Snape yelled, "What there is my briefs?"

Snape's free hand darted to his mouth, and Rosier shouted at him from further down the table, "These days, I'm going commando with Snape." Rosier's jaw dropped with horror as his own words reached his ears.

Rosalee fell against Remus's shoulder, losing her ability to breath between laughs, as Sirius barked, "Remus, what'd you do?"

"Snape's trick wand was my idea," Remus breathed between fits of laughter. "But Rosalee insisted on dosing the entire table's morning pumpkin juice with Babbling Beverage."

Snape turned his gaze on the Gryffindor table. Glaring, he shouted, pointing at James and Sirius, "Potter, Black, I'm going to love you forever, and you can have these briefs as a token of my affection." Snape's face turned redder than Rosalee had thought possible as he dropped to his seat, mystified.

The entire house of Slytherin began spewing nonsense at each other at that point, looking horrified at the words pouring out of their mouths. Dumbledore finally stood and sent the Slytherins to the Hospital Wing for an antidote to their babblings. McGonagall glared at the Marauders, but as there was no evidence that they were in any way connected to the prank, she let them go without saying anything.


	14. Chapter 14

**May 1978**

"Last week of our seventh year at Hogwarts," James said with a sentimental sigh.

"Who would have thought it would come so soon?" Sirius pondered as he, James, Remus, Peter, Lily, and Rosalee laid on the grass near the lake, soaking up the sun.

Peter deadpanned, "With you two around, I was beginning to think that the end would never come."

Remus and Lily laughed, and Rosalee grinned and shook her head at the insulted looks on James and Sirius's faces. Peter snickered as James cried dramatically, "How could you say such things, Wormtail? You've wounded me so!"

"Yeah," Sirius added. "Absolutely cut us to the quick, that did."

Remus shook his head. "What are you guys going to do after graduation?"

"Marry the love of my life," James said, kissing Lily's hand as she giggled. Sirius, Remus, and Peter made kissing noises at them as Rosalee laughed. James waved them off with an annoyed grunt.

Lily said more seriously, "I'd like to get a job at St. Mungos. I think I'd like to be a healer."

As Peter slowly twirled his wand, bubbles floated into the air and drifted across the group of seventh years as he said cheerfully, "I think you'd make a great healer, Lily. Maybe you could work with kids; they'd really like you."

Lily smiled, reaching up and popping one of the bubbles. "Maybe," she said.

"Well, I'm going to get a motorcycle, like the Muggles have," Sirius said excitedly. "I'm going to enchant the crap out of it and make it fly."

"Oh, I'll do that too," James said.

"Must you?" Lily moaned, making the others laugh.

As the laughter quieted, Peter declared, "I'm going to join the Order of the Phoenix."

Rosalee felt Remus's hand around hers tighten. James snickered, "Peter, we're all joining the Order after graduation."

Remus glanced over at Rosalee, and she looked away, focusing all her energy on a large cloud in the sky. As she decided that the cloud looked sort of like a hippogriff, Remus asked, "Rose, are you going to join?"

Rosalee could feel everyone's attention on her, and her heart raced as she tried not to squirm with anxiety. "I, umm, I don't know."

James and Sirius both bolted upright to stare at her. "What does that mean?" Sirius demanded.

Rosalee squeezed Remus's hand, and he sat up too, looking down at her, worry creasing his brow. "I just don't think I'm a fighter," Rosalee said, the excuse feeling pathetic on her tongue.

James chuckled. "Rosalee, you can't fool us. You're the best fighter in our year."

Rosalee shook her head. "Being the best and being the most practiced are very different things."

Sirius insisted, "Either way, you're bloody brilliant at it. You'd be fantastic. You could even make it as an auror; there's no way the Ministry wouldn't want you in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

Rosalee snorted. "Right, the _Ministry,_ " she sneered.

"What's wrong with the Ministry?" Lily asked.

Remus said quickly, "She doesn't approve of the way the Ministry handles Magical creatures like house elves and werewolves."

There was a moment of silence, as the significance of his words hit the others, and Rosalee breathed a sigh of relief, squeezing Remus's hand again in thanks. Since she'd told him the truth about her past, he was constantly stepping in like that to help her keep her secret. He'd made the whole situation considerably easier for her, and she couldn't be more grateful. Finally, Sirius pressed, "Well, you could still join the Order with us."

"Yeah, we need you," Peter encouraged as he sat up, no longer drawing bubbles in the air.

Letting go of Remus's hand, Rosalee got up from the ground and stood, brushing grass off her clothes as best she could. "I just don't think I'm cut out for war anymore. I'm sorry." Rosalee hurried off toward the castle, ready to hide away in the Room of Requirement again. She heard footsteps behind her and snapped as she turned around, "Remus, I don't —" She broke off suddenly, surprised to find that it was Peter following her instead of Remus.

"Sorry," Peter said sheepishly. "I just…"

"Sorry," Rosalee said quickly. "I just thought Remus was…"

"Oh, it's ok," Peter said. After a moment of awkward silence, Peter continued, "Actually, I wanted to let you know that it's ok if you don't join the Order with us." Rosalee raised an eyebrow at him, so he continued. "Trust me; I get where you're coming from. War is seriously scary stuff, but fighting in it is even scarier. I nearly decided to stay away, too. After seeing all that stuff in the Daily Prophet, I seriously thought about running away, picking another country, and just starting over without the threat of You-Know-Who hanging over me. But then I thought about how the war managed to reach you in France and Romania, and I thought about all the other kids who are struggling like you did just to learn magic and survive in the Wizarding World. Kids like us. I know that being part of the Order won't be easy, and it'll be the scariest thing we've ever done, but I have to fight so that the kids like us will stand a chance."

Rosalee let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "That's very noble of you, Peter," she said softly.

Peter turned slightly red. "Thanks," he muttered. "I know you've been closer to this war than any of us, so I'm sure joining the Order and fighting will probably be hardest for you, but we'd love it if you did."

Rosalee stared at her shoes as she rocked back on her heels. "I don't know if I've got it in me anymore," she mumbled. "I never wanted to be a warrior."

Peter asked, "Well, what do you want to be?"

Rosalee smiled a little, not looking up. "Well, honestly, I always sort of wanted to be a veterinarian."

Peter exclaimed, "That'd be amazing! Magical creatures need that too, after all. Well, you could still do that, and fight for the Order, if you wanted."

Rosalee bit her lip, then said, "I'll think about it." Peter nodded then started to walk away. "And, Peter?" He paused, looking back at her curiously. "Thank you." Peter nodded again, leaving Rosalee alone.

* * *

Rosalee sat in Dumbledore's Army's training room in a simple wooden chair. She wasn't particularly comfortable, but that was ok. She didn't want to be comfortable just then. A Death Eater dummy suddenly popped up in a dark corner of the room, and Rosalee instantly threw a Blasting Curse at it, destroying it. Another dummy appeared a few short meters to her right, and she turned her wand on it, knocking it over with a Stunning Spell. The door to the room behind her opened, and Rosalee jumped from her seat, spinning around and easily flicking a purple streak of light in the direction of the door without thinking. A Shield Charm deflected most of the damage of the spell, but Remus flew backward from the force of it, nearly falling into the hall. Rosalee gasped as Remus groaned. "Bloody hell, Rose," he moaned. "What the hell was that?"

Rosalee rushed over to him and helped him up, the door shutting of its own accord as she did so. "Merlin, I'm so sorry," Rosalee rushed. "I didn't mean to…"

"What are you doing in here, growing more paranoid by the second?" Remus snapped, rubbing his left shoulder as though it were sore, which it likely was.

"Well, I was training," Rosalee muttered, her cheeks and eyes burning. "It's not as easy to do as it used to be with the DA. I thought the room had popped up another dummy; I never meant to…"

Remus brushed her off. "It's all right. I get it, and I've had worse."

"I'm just glad you blocked it," Rosalee sighed. "A friend of mine got hit by that curse once; she spent weeks taking ten different potions a day just to fix the damage. I don't think I could've forgiven myself if I'd…"

"Forget it, darling," Remus said firmly. "I'm fine." Rosalee sighed as he pulled her in for a hug. "Still thinking about joining the Order?" he asked.

"Yeah," Rosalee said softly. "I was trying to see if I was still skilled enough to fight for real. Hard to say against dummy targets, though."

"You can," Remus said, leaving no room for questions. "You can fight, and you can do anything else you set your mind to do. I'm quite certain of that." Rosalee nodded against his chest. "Including becoming a veterinarian." Rosalee looked up at him, surprised. "Peter told me," he said with a smile. "He seemed to find it amusing that you want to be a vet since you happen to be dating a werewolf."

Rosalee snickered. "Well, it is rather fitting, don't you think?" she teased.

"I suppose," Remus grinned. "What does Dumbledore think you should do?"

Rosalee frowned, disentangling herself from Remus's arms as she took a few steps away. "Dumbledore thinks it'd be best if I became an auror on top of joining the Order."

"You're capable of it," Remus said gently.

"Well, of course, I could," Rosalee laughed, but it felt cold, humorless. "I'm capable of a lot of things. That spell I threw at you, for example. Awful, dark magic. Serious internal damage to the victim. Twists up your organs, makes them bleed, pokes holes. I essentially learned it from a Death Eater; I saw him use it, then researched it until I could replicate it to use against any Death Eaters that came after me."

"You've also used healing spells on me before after full moons," Remus reminded her. "You're capable of great lightness, too."

"Yeah." Rosalee nodded. "But I know I can't mentally keep up with being both an Auror and part of the Order."

"You don't have to," Remus said, taking a step toward her. He offered her his hand, but he let it drop when she didn't move.

Rosalee wiped away a stray tear from her cheek. "I'll join the Order," she whispered. "But war is all I know how to do, and I just don't know if I can keep doing nothing else."

"So do something else, too," Remus said softly.

Rosalee shook her head. "What are you going to do?"

Remus shrugged. "Dumbledore offered me a job here as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, but I couldn't take it."

Rosalee frowned. "You were the best teacher I ever had, though," she said, taking a step back as memories flooded her mind. "Your students loved you. We were all so upset when you quit; why not take the job?"

Remus stared hard at her, searching her face for something as he answered, "A couple of reasons, really. I was hoping to get a more steady job than just one year, for one thing. But more importantly, I couldn't do that to you."

Rosalee breathed a sarcastic laugh. "Do what to me?"

"Confuse you like that," Remus said heatedly. "You knew me as your professor, and now, I'm the man you love, who loves you, who wants to take care of you and provide for you. You still have trouble calling me by my first name, sometimes. If I took that job, everything would get too blurry for you."

"I could handle it," Rosalee insisted. "You loved that job, and you were damn good at it. I'm sure that you could make it through more than one year. Forget that damn jinx. You want the job, so just take it."

Remus shook his head. "Rose, I don't want the job," he argued. "It's just a job. I care more about you and your mental health."

"My mental health won't be affected just because you become a teacher again," Rosalee snapped.

Remus snorted. "See? That's exactly what I mean; you're already getting mixed up. I've never been a teacher, remember?" Rosalee glared at him as he crossed the empty space between them and took her hand, placing it on his chest. "Feel that?" His heart beating against his chest was soft and rhythmic under her fingers. "I'm right here in front of you. I'm eighteen years old, and I've never been a teacher, so I can't become one again." There was an obnoxious, high-pitched ringing in Rosalee's ears that muffled Remus's voice slightly. "This is why I'll never take that job," Remus said more gently. "I love you, Rosie. I can't do something like that knowing it will push your mind to the brink of sanity, and I won't. Aberforth is still offering me a job tending bar for him; I'm going to take it."

As Remus pushed a strand of brown hair behind her ear, the ringing started to fade, and Rosalee sighed. She nodded, accepting the reality in front of her. "Ok," she mumbled.

* * *

 **June 1978**

The cold air made Rosalee shiver. She couldn't remember how long it'd been since she'd been properly warm — a week, maybe two — but a fire was too much of a risk. Her defensive charms weren't the best, so it was too easy for the smoke to be spotted. She walked slowly through the forest, the frost on the ground making dead leaves crunch more than usual beneath her boots. Her blonde hair fell in front of her eyes, and as she pushed it away, a long, slow howl made her tremble with fear. A figure appeared out of the darkness, then another and another, until she found herself facing a dozen Snatchers. Rosalee turned to run, but she only found herself face to snout with a fully changed werewolf. Yellow eyes glared at her. Drool dripping from bared fangs, it lunged at her, taking her down in one leap. She shrieked as she wrestled with the werewolf, its claws scratching her skin as she did her best to hold it off by the nose and throat. The wolf growled as drool made her lose her grip, and it rushed forward, its teeth sinking deep into her throat as she screamed…

* * *

"Rosie, darling, please, wake up." Remus's pleading floated into Rosalee's conscious mind. Her eyes snapped open, and she bolted upright, knocking her head into Remus's with a crack. Rosalee moaned and rubbed at the sore spot on the top of her head as Remus covered his nose. "Are you ok?" he asked, his voice muffled by his hand.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she groaned. "What happened?"

"You were whining in your sleep again," Remus said as he took his hand away from his nose, examining it for signs of a nosebleed. "I was just trying to wake you up from your nightmare."

"Thank you," Rosalee mumbled, her face heating and looking down at the red comforter in her lap.

"It was the werewolf dream again, wasn't it?" Remus asked softly.

Rosalee nodded. "I'm sorry," she croaked, her throat achingly dry. "I don't mean to; I can't control it. I swear, I'm not afraid of you…"

"I know, I know," Remus said in the voice of a man who's had the same conversation hundreds of times. "I understand; I don't blame you. Come on. We might as well get up now. It's graduation day." Rosalee nodded as her stomach developed all new knots at the thought of leaving Hogwarts for the last time.

* * *

The graduation ceremony passed quickly; the photography session with the parents did not. Rosalee was a little surprised when Remus's parents insisted that she pose for photos, both by herself and with Remus, but was completely blindsided when James's parents and Peter's mother both pleaded for her to take photos with their boys. When it was finally over, everyone started to the Hog's Head, where apparently Aberforth had invited the graduates and their families to come for discounted food and alcohol. Rosalee started to follow James, but Remus caught her hand and pulled her to a stop. "Hey, wait," he said quietly. She turned back to him, one eyebrow raised. "Let's hang back a minute, yeah?"

Rosalee frowned in confusion, then shrugged. "Sure, Moony, whatever you want."

A mischievous glint sparked in Remus's green eyes, and he chuckled, shaking his head. "I love it when you say that," he teased. "Sadly, now's not the time for that."

Rosalee laughed. "Oh, what a pity," she teased right back. He led her away from the more crowded section of the school grounds where families were talking with and taking photos of their graduating children, where the noise mostly faded into the background. "Where are we going?" she asked curiously.

Remus smiled at her as they stopped. "Oh, just over here, a little further away from all that," he said simply.

Rosalee watched Remus as he fidgeted nervously. "What are you up to?" she asked, a suspicious smile on her own face.

Remus laughed nervously, pacing slightly, rubbing the back of his neck. "James thought I should have done this a lot sooner, all things considered," he said quickly. "But my parents thought that I should wait until we graduated, especially with the way certain things turned out. Make sure that we were gonna survive it and all that. But now that we've graduated, I don't think I could wait anymore without bursting."

Rosalee couldn't help but laugh. "What are you talking about?"

Wearing a Cheshire cat grin, Remus walked back over to Rosalee, taking both hands in his. "I'm talking about this," he said excitedly. He got down on one knee and pulled a small box out of his pocket. Rosalee gasped, pulling a hand free to cover her mouth to hide her mouth falling open. "It's not much," Remus said, opening the box to reveal a pear-shaped diamond set in a silver ring. "It was my mother's engagement ring. I know some people might think I'm rushing into this a little bit, but I know you better than I know myself. I want to be with you for the rest of my life, Rosie. What do you say? Will you marry me?"

Rosalee couldn't move, could barely breathe. Her hands started shaking slightly, and her mind was spinning with memories of her professor in love with, married to, a pink-haired auror. Rosalee stuttered, "I-I-I…"

Remus squeezed her hand reassuringly. He whispered gently, "Darling, look at me. I'm right here. I'm just Remus, and I love you. Marry me?"

His voice brought her crashing back down to earth, bringing with it memories of dates to Hogsmeade, snowball fights, and bedroom romps. She remembered the reality in front of her and the way he loved her. Most of all, she remembered the way she loved him. She smiled again, nodding. "Yes. Yes, Remus, I'll marry you."

Remus, smiling more widely than ever, launched to his feet. He threw his arms around her and kissed her hard. Rosalee melted into him, taking his face gently in her hands, a happy little sigh escaping her as his tongue met hers. When they finally separated for air, Remus laughed softly and placed the ring on her finger. It was a little tight, but it was nearly a perfect fit. "I love you," he whispered, brushing her hair back from her face.

"I love you too," Rosalee said happily before planting another light kiss on his lips.

Remus was practically bouncing with excitement. "Let's join everyone at the Hog's Head."

"Sounds good." Rosalee smiled as he led her down the path to Hogsmeade through the forest. They were almost out the other side when Rosalee felt chills running down her spine. Her skin prickled as the feeling of someone watching them overwhelmed her. "Remus, something's wrong. I don't know what exactly, but something…"

It all happened in a flash. Several popping sounds alerted the couple to the apparation of several Death Eaters that now surrounded them, wands aimed at them. Remus and Rosalee had their wands out in seconds, and Rosalee threw the first Blasting Curse, which hit one of the Death Eaters with a surprisingly satisfying explosion. All hell broke loose, with curses flying all over the place. Remus shouted, "Rose, run!"

Rosalee stood her ground as she blocked a Stunning Spell from hitting Remus in the back before throwing one of her own back at the source, knocking another one down. "Not without you," she insisted.

The Cruciatus Curse caught Remus in the chest before either Gryffindor could stop it. Rosalee turned, flinging a Killing Curse at his attacker, but she missed. The spell hit a tree, which exploded into flames, as she felt arms grabbing her from behind. She kicked and screamed as she was lifted off her feet, then a rough voice growled in her ear, "Oh, shut up, Dumbledore, and maybe we'll let your precious little halfblood live."

Rosalee attempted to wave her wand, but it was ripped from her hand and tossed on the ground next to where Remus writhed on the ground in agony. "What the hell do you want?" Rosalee demanded.

Another Death Eater approached her, and his mask muffled his voice. "We want nothing, but the Dark Lord would like a word with you. You're coming with us." Rosalee felt a wand tip on the back of her head, and then the world went dark.

* * *

 **Please leave reviews! Reviews are the best. They make me want to write more!**


	15. Chapter 15

**June 1978**

A sudden shock to her system brought Rosalee back to the land of the living. She gasped, sitting up and searching her person for her wand, the sense of danger overwhelming. "You won't find your wand here, Miss Dumbledore. It was left behind by my foolish servants when you were brought to me." The cold voice sent a horrible shiver down Rosalee's spine. She turned around to see Voldemort sitting in a chair behind her. At least, she assumed it was Voldemort; she had never seen You-Know-Who before, but based on the red, snake-like eyes and general air of evil surrounding the dark-haired man, she felt fairly confident in her guess. "No reason to be afraid, child. As long as you cooperate, you are considered my guest and will be treated as such."

Rosalee glared at him, refusing to show fear. "I could be wrong, but I don't believe it's customary to stun and kidnap guests."

Voldemort laughed, a high-pitched sound that gave Rosalee chills. "I should really keep more Gryffindors around me; your lot does have a knack for speaking their minds in any situation, ignoring any potential consequences. It's certainly… entertaining."

"What do you want?" Rosalee demanded, curling her hands into fists in an attempt to hide the way they shook.

Voldemort watched her silently for a long moment. "Join us for dinner," Voldemort said simply, standing and opening the room's door, holding it open for her.

Rosalee watched unmoving, stunned. "Excuse me?"

"I would like you on my side, but I know how you Gryffindors are. You'll require wooing over to our cause; you'll hardly join simply because you believe in our ideals. Nor will you be easy to force into service. No, I intend to convince you that joining my ranks is the best decision for you; if it fails, I'll just torture and Imperius you into doing my bidding. But I'd prefer to avoid that hassle, so I'll start by having you join myself and a few select Death Eaters for dinner and wine," Voldemort replied, rolling his eyes as though he were explaining the most obvious thing in the world.

Rosalee hesitated, but, seeing as going against the evilest wizard in history wasn't exactly an option at the moment, she stood and walked through the open door. On the other side was a large dining room, and at the dining table sat four unmasked Death Eaters: Bellatrix LeStrange, Lucius Malfoy, Rodolphus LeStrange, and, surprisingly, barely seventeen-years-old Regulus Black. Voldemort swept into the room behind her, taking a seat at the head of the table. He motioned for Rosalee to sit, and Regulus stood, pulling the chair beside him out from under the table. Rosalee took the seat as Regulus said quietly, "Sorry about the Stunning Spell. Couldn't be helped."

Rosalee nearly laughed as he pushed her chair in for her. "That was you?"

Regulus nodded as he sat beside her. Across the table from her, Bellatrix glared at Rosalee. Rodolphus, across from Regulus, slipped his hand into his wife's, squeezing it when she started to say something. Bellatrix rolled her eyes but shut her mouth anyway. Malfoy, sitting at the foot of the table, said, "My Lord, we've established -"

"Oh, tell me later, Lucius," Voldemort said icily. "You must remember that there is one seated among us who has not yet joined our ranks; that means that until she does, she is not to be trusted with sensitive information."

"Yes, my Lord," Lucius replied quickly, not meeting Voldemort's gaze.

An expansive — and expensive, if Rosalee had to guess — array of food suddenly appeared on the table in front of them, just as it did at Hogwarts during feasts. Everything from caviar to unpasteurized cheese was there, only a couple items being particularly familiar. Rosalee did what came natural and only ate the salmon and carrots that she could be fairly sure she'd like since she was hardly in a position to offend her hosts. After a silent dinner, Voldemort finally said, "Is it true that you are a powerful seer, Miss Dumbledore?"

Rosalee started, accidentally dropping her fork on her plate with a loud clanging that irritated everyone's ears after such a long spell of quiet. Choking on her fish, Rosalee grabbed her drink and guzzle it, not caring the way the white wine made her sore throat burn. She took a few deep breaths as she put her drink down, her hand and glass shaking violently, as she attempted to formulate a response that wouldn't get her killed. "I… ummm…"

Bellatrix snapped, "Oh, don't try to pretend like you're not. We've got eyewitnesses who testify to the fact that you are."

"Bella, do calm yourself," Voldemort said impatiently. "Let our guest speak."

Rosalee huffed her hands beneath the table as she tried desperately to steady them. "I would hardly claim to be a powerful seer," she said slowly. "But I have occasionally been known to have some sort of vision of a possible future. Sometimes they happen, and sometimes they don't."

Rosalee nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a hand take one of hers and squeeze it in a way that was obviously meant to be reassuring. She glanced to her left, but Regulus wasn't even looking at her, staring down at the wine he held in his left hand as though he found it utterly fascinating. Voldemort was nodding, but his expression was indecipherable before he said, "Perhaps you have more power than you believe."

Rosalee replied quietly, "It's possible, but it seems unlikely." Regulus squeezed her hand again — a warning. She could tell by the difference in the tightness of his grip. She cleared her throat nervously. "Of course, how could I claim to be powerful in any aspect when there are wizards of true power, like you or Albus Dumbledore?"

Clearly, she'd said the right thing; Voldemort practically preened at her words. "Have you ever attempted to do magic without a wand, Miss Dumbledore?"

Rosalee shook her head. "Until today, I've never been without my wand, so there's never been a need."

Voldemort said, "The eradication of mudbloods is not our only goal. We believe that the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts are weakening our abilities. Children regularly perform magic, incredible deeds of wonder, without wands, yet we as adults are essentially powerless without our wands. We are taught the same spells, allowed to explore all the same little tricks, yet regularly certain magics, including wandless magic, are being banned by the Ministry as dark. Tell me, Miss Dumbledore, what sort of accidental magic did you do as a child?"

Rosalee hesitated, but when Regulus squeezed her hand again, she responded, "Transfiguration. I turned vegetables into cookies."

"Could you do that now, with the items in front of you?" Voldemort asked, seeming genuinely curious as he leaned forward, forearms resting on the table. Rosalee shook her head. "Why not? Are you less powerful now than you were as a toddler?"

Rosalee hesitated. "I —"

"That is what my followers truly seek," Voldemort continued. "We merely want to be as powerful as we were as children. We want magic to flow freely throughout the world again, as it did in the days of old. We want to revolutionize the Ministry. It's time the International Statute of Secrecy was abolished, and magic stood powerful and supreme in the light of day once more." Rosalee tightened her grip on Regulus's hand, not caring in that moment that he was her enemy. She only cared that he was offering her some semblance of comfort, and given her situation, she was hardly going to turn away his kindness. "Does that not sound like a cause worthy of your support, Miss Dumbledore?"

Hating the way her voice trembled against her will, Rosalee replied quietly, "It might if you weren't so determined to erase Muggle-born witches and wizards from the planet."

"I hardly wish to destroy all mudbloods," Voldemort replied easily, leaning back in his chair casually with his wine glass. "I admire power, Miss Dumbledore. It does not matter to me the source of that power. If a mudblood demonstrates sufficient prowess at magic, then he might be of use to me, and I should like to keep him very much alive and cooperative."

Rosalee shifted in her seat nervously. Malfoy cleared his throat, then said, "We would like you to join us, Dumbledore. To have a seer among our ranks would be a significant advantage."

Her instant reaction was to tell Malfoy to go to hell, but before the words could come out of her mouth, Regulus squeezed her hand so hard Rosalee thought he was going to break her fingers. She looked at him, and this time he met gaze, his face expressionless, but his eyes begging her to agree to anything Voldemort asked of her. Rosalee took a breath, then asked, "What exactly would that entail?"

"You would take the Dark Mark, of course," Malfoy answered. "You'd be a full-fledged Death Eater. You'd obey the Dark Lord's every wish, and you'd use your skills as a seer to advise the Dark Lord of the best moves to make."

"And if I refuse?" Rosalee asked brazenly, ignoring the way Regulus's grip pained her hand.

Voldemort replied casually, "It's been brought to our attention that you appear to greatly enjoy the company of werewolves." Rosalee paled as Voldemort continued, "Now, the obvious thing to do would be to threaten young Mr. Lupin, your favorite little werewolf, but why be obvious? No, we'll leave him alone. Instead, we have a friend of his who'd like to get to know you considerably better. Fenrir Greyback speaks highly of you; he seems to be of the opinion that you'd make a fine werewolf. Or an excellent dinner, depending on if we allow him to kill you next full moon or merely turn you."

Rosalee managed to hide the way her terror made her tremble everywhere except her hands, so Regulus was aware that the threats had gotten to her. Finding her voice again, Rosalee said, her voice coming out hoarse, "I'll do anything you want; just leave Remus alone and leave me unmarked."

Voldemort raised an eyebrow at her. "What makes you think I'll do that?"

Rosalee cleared her throat and took a sip of wine before she continued down this trail of thought. She had no idea if it would work, but she had to make a play to get out. "Because I could be so much more useful without one. I'm Albus Dumbledore's niece. Mark me, and I'm useless but for a few visions of the future that may or may not turn out to be accurate. Unmarked, you can send me back to them, and I can bring you information on the Order of the Phoenix and their movements."

Voldemort laughed, making Rosalee shift uncomfortably in her seat. Regulus rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand, attempting and failing to steady the way she shook. Voldemort said, "I like the way your mind thinks, Miss Dumbledore. Perhaps you should have been a Slytherin, with a plan so cunning. I also see the next step in your plan. I send you home without a Dark Mark, and you never come back and never report to me. I'm not an idiot, girl." He leaned back in his seat, momentarily contemplating something. "Regulus, our guest shall be left in your care. Clearly, she requires time to consider her options fully. Take her to your chambers and keep an eye on her. Do whatever it takes to convince her that joining me is her only option — anything."

"Yes, my Lord," Regulus replied, releasing Rosalee's hand and standing. He pulled her chair out from under the table, taking her arm gently and compelling her to stand as well. "Follow me," he said softly, though his voice left no room for disagreement. Rosalee nodded and did as she was asked. He led her down several hallways before he suddenly opened a door and gestured for her to enter it. She did, and he followed her inside. She was surprised by the red wallpaper that decorated the room, and the fireplace that was already lit. Regulus closed the door before either dared to say a word. "Dumbledore, you have to do this. You have to join us."

"Why?" Rosalee snapped, wheeling on the younger man. "Maybe it's worth it to me to die at Greyback's filthy paws to protect my friends and family."

"What good would your death do, assuming the Dark Lord allows you to die at all?" Regulus shot back. "It's very likely that he will keep you alive for years, torturing you, turning you into a werewolf, using Legilimency to extract your visions from you against your will. What good would resisting him do?" Rosalee opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out. "Rosalee," Regulus said more gently. "I don't want to be here either. I want no part of this."

Frowning, Rosalee asked, "Then why are you here?"

"Sirius left," Regulus said with a sigh. "I was alone in that house for years. He refused, and he left me there alone. I didn't have the choice to walk away like he did. It was life or death for me. I chose to live. You're in the same position I was in now. Don't be stupid."

Knees weak, Rosalee sank onto the bed, shaking her head. "I don't want this," she mumbled. "This is wrong."

"Of course, it's wrong," Regulus said, watching her, his face unreadable. "But it's safe. Wouldn't your family and friends rather you be alive, safe, and unharmed rather than tortured and eventually murdered?"

Suddenly, black smoke edged Rosalee's scope of sight. She could still see Regulus in front of her, but as she grew dizzy and grabbed onto a bedpost to hold herself steady, voices floated to her ears that couldn't possibly be there. _"You don't understand!" whined Pettigrew. "He would have killed me, Sirius!"_

" _THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED!" roared Black. "DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!"_

" _You should have realized," said Lupin quietly, "if Voldemort didn't kill you, we would. Goodbye, Peter."_

Then Regulus was kneeling in front of her, though she couldn't remember seeing him move. He had his hands on her shoulders, and Rosalee shook her head, then pushed him away. Rosalee muttered, "No, they would rather I died rather than betray them."

"Was that a vision just now?" Regulus asked. "Did you just see the future?"

"No," Rosalee snapped, offering no further explanation for her strange behavior.

Regulus sighed, then sat down beside her on the bed. "Right, fine. Don't tell me what you saw, then." They sat in silence a moment before he spoke again. "What makes you so confident that they would rather see you die than on Voldemort's side?"

Rosalee sighed. "I just know."

Regulus shook his head. "So you'd rather be turned into a werewolf or killed than lose the good opinion of your friends?" Rosalee didn't respond, clenching her fist in an attempt to steady the trembling in her hand. "I don't get you Gryffindors. Don't you have any sense of self-preservation at all?"

Rosalee snorted. "I'd have died years ago if I didn't," she said.

"You know, if you refuse the Dark Mark, no one can protect you, including me," Regulus said quietly.

"Implying that you would want to protect me?" Rosalee asked curiously.

Regulus chose his next words carefully. "I've seen the way my brother looks at you," he said softly.

Jaw dropping, Rosalee said, "Oh, don't try to tell me that you think he's in love with me."

"No, of course not," Regulus said with a wave of his hand. "I mean that he looks at you the way he used to look at me when we were children. He protects you the way he used to protect me from our parents' rages. He treats you like family; he loves you like a sister. If he thinks that highly of you…" Regulus sighed. "Yes, I would want to protect you, but I wouldn't be able to." Rosalee stared blindly at the floor as he spoke. She couldn't speak; she could barely breathe as her heart pounded in her chest. Her wand was lost somewhere; she hadn't a clue what had happened to Remus. She was completely powerless to defend herself, to fight back. It was easy to be a brave Gryffindor when armed. It was another thing entirely to be at Voldemort's mercy, staring death in the face, and turn down the only option to stay alive. "What are you going to do?" Regulus asked, staring hard at her.

Rosalee closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Kill me?" she whispered.

"What?" Regulus said, shocked.

She looked at him, at the horrified expression on his face. "Kill me now," Rosalee repeated. "I'll never do what You-Know-Who wants, and we both know it. I spent too long fighting him to give in to him now just for his silly little offer of power that might not even exist. If you want to make things easier for me and for Sirius, then kill me now. Keep him from torturing me and taking information from me. Believe me, there's plenty in my head worth knowing for both sides, but not enough to win the war for either. You may as well kill me now and spare me the pain of being tortured."

Regulus shook his head. "I can't do that."

Rosalee huffed angrily, folding her arms over her chest. After a few minutes of silence, she asked fearfully, "What happened to Remus?"

Regulus looked away, watching the fire in the fireplace. "They tortured him some," he said quietly. "But they left him behind when we took you. He should be safe." Rosalee let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding as she felt a small amount of relief. "You know, the Dark Lord isn't going to let you go. He won't let you leave, and he won't kill you. Your abilities as a seer are far too important for him to follow through on any threats to kill you. He'll torture the hell out of you and force the answers he wants from you whether you want to give them to him or not. He'll let that werewolf do anything he likes with you up to the point of killing you."

Bones chilling, Rosalee shook her head. "I don't care," she said weakly.

"Of course you care," Regulus snapped. "Protect yourself and give him what he wants of your own volition."

"No," Rosalee insisted, raising her voice.

"Fine," Regulus shouted back. "Then I give up. You'll just have to suffer then. You'd better sleep now, while you still can sleep." Rosalee glared at him, then laid down on the bed, shocked when he laid down beside her. "What?" he said, aggravated, when she stared at him. "I'm not allowed to leave you alone, and I need sleep too."

"Fine," Rosalee growled, then she rolled over and tried to hide her tears from the young Death Eater as she fell asleep.

* * *

Rosalee woke up screaming, a heavy weight pressing both her shoulders down into the soft bed. She struggled against the pressure, fear muddling her mind. Her eyes snapped open and made contact with a terrified pair of gray eyes. Her eyes hyper-focused, instantly landing on Regulus's forgotten wand sticking loosely out of his pocket. She ripped it from his trousers, pointing it directly between his eyes as she gasped for air. "Get. Off. Me," she snarled.

Regulus moved as slowly as he could to climb off her, saying, "You started screaming in your sleep, thrashing around. I was merely trying to wake you and…"

"I don't care what you were trying to do," Rosalee hissed. She attempted to disapparate, but the spell failed.

"Anti-Disapparation Wards," Regulus explained when she screamed in frustration. "Even with a wand, you can't get out of here."

"Where am I?" Rosalee demanded. When Regulus remained silent, Rosalee marched over to him and placed the tip of his wand against his jaw. "Voldemort _will_ kill you for letting me get your wand. Help me, or I'll beat him to it."

Regulus swallowed hard. "Fine," he said, his voice cracking. "This is the LeStrange family home. A castle in the south of England, as close as we can get to France."

"What else?" Rosalee pushed, pressing the wand harder against his face. "What else can I tell the Order to help them rescue me?"

"You're going to call the Order?" Regulus practically squeaked.

"Well, if I can't get out, they'll have to break in and get me out," Rosalee snapped. "So tell me what I need to know."

Regulus resisted in silence for a few moments, but when Rosalee started to mutter a spell under her breath, he cracked. "All right, all right! There's Anti-Apparation Wards, but the place is connected to the Floo system, and there are several fireplaces into empty rooms upstairs. They'd be able to come right into our headquarters from the upper floors without getting attacked as they entered."

"Thank you, Black," Rosalee smirked. Her mind was racing a million miles an hour in her rush to formulate an escape plan. She didn't dare close her eyes, for fear that Regulus would overpower her and take his wand back, but she slowed her thoughts as best she could and focused on memories of Remus. The way he played with her hair as they cuddled in the Gryffindor common room, the way he held her close as they strolled along the grounds of Hogwarts, the way he kissed her… "Expecto Patronum," she whispered, and a large silver wolf leaped from the wand, making Regulus scramble out of its way. The wolf turned and stared at her, and she said, "Ok, wolf. I've got a message for you to deliver."

* * *

Rosalee chewed her lip nervously as Regulus paced back and forth in front of her. She'd finally surrendered the wand back to its owner after a couple hours to prevent Voldemort from actually killing him, but she was starting to wish she hadn't been so gracious as he suddenly hissed at the burning sensation on his arm, grabbed her by the arm, and begged, "Please, do whatever he asks, if not to save yourself then to save me." Then he dragged her out and back down corridors until they ended up in the same dining room as the night before.

The same people sat in the same seats around the table. As Regulus once again helped her into her seat, Voldemort asked, "Have you made your decision, Miss Dumbledore?"

Rosalee closed her eyes, only for a second, to get a good picture of Remus in her mind to steady her nerves, then she opened them, glared hard at Voldemort's terrifying red eyes, and said firmly, "I won't do it. If you want to know what I see in your future, you'll have to kill me and somehow extract it from my dead body."

Voldemort shook his head. "Well, if you insist, we can do this the hard way. Lucius, please escort our guest to the room I've set up with all those divination tools. Greyback will be there waiting."

Rosalee's blood felt like ice in her veins, and she stumbled as Malfoy stood, grabbing her arm and yanking her from her seat. Her panicked brown eyes searched for Regulus's gray ones, silently pleading for help, but he refused to look at her as Malfoy dragged her out by a different door than she'd entered. After several twists and turns, Malfoy opened a door and tossed her in the room. She fell, knees and palms scraping on the stone floor as she attempted to catch herself. The door slammed shut behind her.

Rosalee looked up, glancing around the small room. It was dark, barely lit by a lamp. Various crystal balls, tea leaves, tea cups, mirrors, and books were scattered throughout the room. A full-length mirror stood on a stand directly in front of her, and suddenly she could see Fenrir Greyback in it, smirking at her. He reached down and grabbed her hair by the roots and yanked her up, forcing her to her feet, ripping a whimper of fear from her throat as he slammed her against the stone wall. He pressed close to her, his maniacal grin widening as he sensed her fear. "I hear you like werewolves," he growled in her ear, his hot breath on her neck increasing her panic. Rosalee struggled against his hold, but without her wand, Greyback easily overpowered her, striking her head against the stone again. "My pup certainly has good taste," he said, the lust in his eyes terrifying her beyond anything she had ever felt before. "So pretty and whole… You won't be so whole if he ever gets you back."

* * *

Folks, my Etsy shop is up and running! I currently have one Gryffindor scarf available for purchase, and other houses can be requested by custom order! My shop is named WingardiumStitchiosa. Anyone who messages me on fanfiction to request their scarf gets a five dollar discount on their custom listing! I love you guys! Please leave reviews!


	16. Chapter 16

**_Trigger Warning: Mentions of rape_**

* * *

 **June 1978**

Rosalee whimpered as Greyback forced her into a chair. Malfoy and Regulus stood by the doorway, watching as Greyback grabbed her jaw and forced her to stare into the large mirror. Blood trickled down the side of her face from a gash in her hairline as Greyback snarled, "Let's try this again. The Dark Lord wants his future told by a silly little girl, and you're just the stupid little bitch to do it, understand?" Rosalee nodded, biting her lip against the tears building in her eyes. "Good."

Malfoy waved his wand, turning out all the lights, as Greyback let go of her. The only thing Rosalee could see now was the mirror directly in front of her. She closed her eyes, pleading to anything that was listening for a vision so that Greyback's torture would stop; she'd been held captive two weeks now and was beginning to crack. Reaching forward, she touched the cold glass of the mirror and felt her fingertips break the surface tension of the glass as though it were water. Something on the other side grabbed her hand as black smoke licked at her feet, and suddenly she was pulled forward. She fell through the mirror, landing unceremoniously on her hands and knees, and looked up. Rosalee was in the dining room again, facing Voldemort. She looked exactly the same as when she'd seen herself in the mirror before she fell through it — same injuries, same blood smeared on her forehead, graduation robe torn and bloody, the red dress underneath darkened with blood stains and ripped around her waist. Teeth marks on her shoulders that weren't healing properly slowly oozed blood as Greyback pressed roughly against the wounds of his own creation and forced her to her knees in front of Voldemort. "Well?" the dark wizard asked impatiently.

Rosalee did her best to slow her breathing to prevent hyperventilating as she stared at the stone floor. "I've had a vision," she whispered.

"Tell him what it was," Greyback growled as he kicked her in the ribs, knocking her over and making her cry out in pain.

"Enough, Greyback," Voldemort said, a bit more calm than before. "Let the child speak."

Rosalee forced herself back into a seated position, tears escaping her eyes against her will in response to the pain of her likely broken ribs. She took a shaky, excruciating breath, then said quietly, "I've seen you, Lord Voldemort. I've seen you rise to power." Rosalee gasped as she watched herself speaking the truth to Voldemort. "I've seen you quietly take control of the Ministry of Magic. I've seen your followers hunting Muggle-borns in forests like Muggles hunt foxes. I've seen you imprison children in Azkaban just for having magic." Then the Rosalee on the floor suddenly smirked, and she laughed, ignoring the horrific pain in her chest, before she looked Voldemort straight in the eyes and continued, "And I've seen you fall."

Voldemort screamed in outrage, his own Death Eaters flinching away from his rage. "You lie," Voldemort hissed furiously. "You lie! _Crucio_."

The spell hit Rosalee's breastbone, and she doubled over, screaming in pain. She thrashed on the floor, struggling and failing to escape the torture being inflicted on her. Suddenly, a familiar voice shouted, "Confringo!"

The spell caught Voldemort off guard, and while he managed to block the Blasting Curse, the resulting explosion knocked him and the other Death Eaters off their feet and destroyed pieces of the stone wall, sending broken chunks of rock flying. Rosalee threw her arms over her face to shield herself from the shrapnel as Remus rushed down the stairs, followed by someone who could only be Alastor Moody and several other Order Members that she didn't recognize. Spells flew everywhere as Remus ran to her and knelt down beside her. "Come on, Rose; we're getting you out of here," he said softly.

"Lupin," Greyback snarled, suddenly looming over the young couple.

Rosalee didn't think; she knew that Remus couldn't get a proper hold on his wand again from where he held it loosely in the wrong hand, resting on her hip, quickly enough to prevent Greyback's impending attack. She grabbed the wand, and without even removing it from Remus's hand, whispered, "Imperio." The white mist rushed at Greyback faster than he could lunge for Remus's throat, and she felt it take control of him. A second later, he turned away and instead attacked a masked Death Eater who stood at Voldemort's side. "Let's go," Rosalee said as Remus continued to help her up.

Suddenly, the Rosalee who was watching events unfold felt a hand on the back of her neck, squeezing it painfully and shaking her. She blinked, and suddenly she was in the chair again, her hand pressed against the cold solid glass of the mirror. Greyback held onto the back of her neck and seemed to be repeating himself. "Well? Do you see anything or not, kid?"

Rosalee snapped, "I'll only tell You-Know-Who what I've seen, you disgusting old dog."

Greyback backhanded Rosalee's face, leaving a ringing in her ears. Malfoy said haughtily, "Enough, Greyback. We'll take her to Voldemort. If she's lying and hasn't really seen anything, perhaps he'll finally allow you to have your way and turn her when the full moon comes in two days."

Greyback grinned, baring his teeth that frightened Rosalee enough in human form that she had no desire to see them transformed into proper wolf fangs. He snatched Rosalee from her seat and hauled her out into the hallway, leading her as predicted to the dining room. Voldemort sat at the table, a house elf clearing away his lunch and disappearing with a pop. Greyback forced Rosalee to her knees as Voldemort stood, walking around the table to stand in front of her. She glanced at the stairway; the angled seemed right. With luck, she thought as Voldemort spoke, if she were lucky, she could make this play out just like her vision. "I've had a vision," she whispered.

Just as she'd seen, Greyback kicked her, and the pain was worse than she'd imagined it. She coughed up blood on the floor as Voldemort chided Greyback for his haste. She pushed herself up before she spoke again. "I've seen you, Lord Voldemort. I've seen you rise to power. I've seen you quietly take control of the Ministry of Magic. I've seen your followers hunting Muggle-borns in forests like Muggles hunt deer. I've seen you imprison children in Azkaban just for having magic." Pausing, Rosalee smirked and laughed, knowing just how much her next words would get under his skin. She looked Voldemort straight in the eyes and continued, "And I've seen you fall."

Voldemort screamed in outrage, his own Death Eaters flinching away from his rage just as she'd foreseen. "You lie," Voldemort hissed furiously. "You lie! _Crucio_!"

The worst pain of her life exploded in her chest, spreading under her skin like poison and fiberglass and fire all rolled into one. She screamed, curling in on herself, trying and failing to escape the torture curse. It seemed like far longer than she remembered it being in her vision when she finally heard the incantation of the Blasting Curse and the following explosion and did her best to protect her face from the shrapnel. The pain faded, and Remus's visage appeared above her, one of his hands on her cheek, and the pressure of his touch hurt her face. Her ears were still ringing from the explosion, so she couldn't understand what he was saying, but she mumbled, "Remus, behind you…"

"Lupin," Greyback roared, standing over him with a large knife.

This time, Remus had his wand in the correct hand, and before Greyback could take a stab at him, he turned his wand on the older werewolf and snarled, "Bombarda!" The spell hit Greyback and there was a small explosion, severely damaging Greyback and throwing him several meters back. Remus helped Rosalee to her feet as curses flew wildly, saying, "We'd better get out of here." Rosalee nodded as Remus helped her up the stairs. He grabbed them a handful of Floo powder and tossed it in the fireplace, calling out an address Rosalee forgot in under two seconds, and they stepped in together. He held her tight to his chest as she coughed against the ash of the Floo system. When they stumbled out into the Hospital Wing of Hogwarts, Remus immediately hugged her, breaking down and burying his face in her dark brown hair, breathing heavily. "You're safe," Remus muttered into her hair. "You're safe; you're safe. It's all ok now. It's all over; you're here with me, safe."

Rosalee nodded against his chest, letting the tears finally fall. "I love you," she whispered between sobs.

"I love you too," Remus mumbled back. "I'm so sorry I left you there so long; after I got your patronus, I tried so hard to get the Order in there, but Dumbledore insisted we had to take our time to make sure we got in and out safely."

Rosalee struggled to breathe as she whispered, "I'm just so relieved you came."

Rosalee hadn't noticed Madame Pomfrey until the mediwitch was pulling her away from Remus. "Let's get you mended, dear," Madame Pomfrey said gently.

* * *

The next morning, Rosalee woke up snuggled against Remus's chest in a bed in the Hospital Wing. She breathed a sigh of relief as she realized where she was, staring up at the ceiling. Her mind raced through the hell of the past two weeks, and she shook her head, trying to rid her brain of the memories. Turning to Remus, she shook him gently until he groaned and opened his eyes. When his green eyes finally focused on her face, he smiled. He reached up and lightly brushed the back of his hand against her bruised face. "Morning, love," he said softly. When he noticed the hint of tears in her eyes, he frowned. "What's wrong?"

Rosalee grabbed his hand and pulled it away from her face, letting their hands fall to the bed between them. "Just bad memories," she said quietly.

"What happened there?" Remus asked as he tightened his grip on her hand. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Rosalee shook her head. "No, I don't." She hesitated, then added, "I can't. I… I'm not…" Her voice broke, forcing her to stop to collect herself before she continued and lied, "It was just pretty standard torture. Cruciatus Curse and all that. Nothing I can't handle."

Remus shook his head, sitting up slightly. "No, wait a minute," Remus argued. "I saw your injuries. I saw Greyback there at the castle, and I saw the bite wounds all over your shoulder that refused to heal until Madame Pomfrey sealed them with powdered silver." Rosalee shivered at the memory of the surprising amount of pain from the silver on her skin. "Rose," Remus said, pulling her attention back to him. "What did Greyback do to you?"

Rosalee pulled her hand away from Remus, sitting up quickly and putting as much distance between the two of them as possible. "I don't want to talk about it," Rosalee insisted, her voice weak.

Remus crawled over toward her, growling in frustration when she stood and took a few steps away from him. "Why not?" he demanded. "Rosie, I need to know."

"No, you don't," Rosalee snapped. "It was bad, ok? It was hell there. It was absolutely horrible, and I don't want to remember it; I don't want to talk about it. So just leave it alone, ok?"

Remus sat still, gripping the edge of the bed, his mouth a hard, thin line. Eyes flashing, he snarled, "Fine. Fine, Rose."

Trembling, Rosalee's breathing was quick and shallow as she backed away. "I can't… I can't stay here," she said, fear leaking into her voice.

"Rose, this is the safest place in the world. You shouldn't leave," Remus reminded her, speaking more gently than he had before.

Rosalee shook her head. "I need something familiar."

"Hogwarts is familiar," Remus frowned.

"I want to go home," Rosalee muttered, staring hard at the tiled floor under her bare feet.

Remus sighed. "Well, of course, we can go home," Remus said quietly. "That's not exactly a familiar place for you yet, but…"

"No," Rosalee interrupted. "I don't mean your house. I want to go home."

"You mean your parents' house?" Remus asked, eyes widening. "Honey, I don't even know if it's been built yet. Your parents won't know you; they might not know each other yet. You can't go there…"

"I know," Rosalee sobbed, struggling not to choke on tears. "But I still want to go home. I know I can't, and I won't. I just want to." She broke down then, raising a hand to cover her face. Remus stood and took a step forward and reaching out to comfort her, but when she flinched away from him, he stepped back again, clearly feeling rejected. Rosalee shook her head. "I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I just can't deal with it right now."

Remus took a deep breath, then nodded. "Yeah, I getcha," Remus said quietly. "I just… Please, just don't forget that if anyone will understand the hell Greyback put you through, it'd be me, ok?" Rosalee hesitated, then nodded.

* * *

That afternoon, Rosalee stretched her arms above her head as she felt sunlight beating down on her face. It was just hot enough to be slightly uncomfortable but not enough for her to break a sweat as she stood in the Lupins' backyard, just enjoying the heat and fresh air after weeks of cold stone walls and stale air. She didn't have to look to know that Remus was watching her through the kitchen window; he hadn't let her out of his sight since they'd rescued her. She heard someone walk up beside her, then Sirius's voice said, "Welcome back, Rosie Posie."

Rosalee snorted. "So Remus has sent me a guard dog?" she teased.

Sirius chuckled, shaking his head. "I won't even ask how you knew about that," Sirius said lightly.

Rosalee laughed a bit at that. "That's probably for the best. At this point, you really should just assume that I know everything about you boys and that you'll never have any secrets from me."

Sirius raised an eyebrow at her. "I accept that challenge," Sirius said, puffing up his chest a bit.

Rolling her eyes, Rosalee said more seriously, "Remus thinks you can get me to open up to you like I did when I first moved here, doesn't he?" Sirius nodded, the smile fading from his face. Rosalee sighed. "Don't waste your time," she said as she bent down and pulled a four-leaf clover out of the ground. "I'm never going to talk about it if I get my way."

Sirius stood silently beside her for a few minutes, staring at the patch of clover beneath their feet. He plucked a four-leaf clover of his own, then from his crouched position, said solemnly, "When I was fifteen, my mother decided I was old enough to father a pureblood child. Forced me into a bedroom with an older pureblood girl… Roxanne Flint. She was seventeen already, and she had a wand. I was underage, and Walburga had taken away my wand for the summer."

"Sirius…" Rosalee said softly, unsure what to say.

"Flint put me under the Imperius Curse," Sirius continued, refusing to stop the words tumbling from his mouth. "I was horrified by what happened. I blamed myself, thinking that if I'd just had more willpower I could've broken the curse and made it stop. The truth was she was just damn good at that spell, and I don't think even Dumbledore could've gotten her out of his head. She kept coming back, once a week for the entire summer. I was a complete mess when I finally got back on the Hogwarts Express. I managed to hide from the other Marauders for the entire train ride, but once they got me in the dorm room, I couldn't hide anymore. Remus knew."

Her eyes stung with tears, and pleaded, her voice tight, "Sirius, don't…"

Sirius looked up at her, a pain that Rosalee had become all too familiar with in his eyes. "I get the feeling you need to hear this, Rose," he said firmly. "I was a complete wreck. I was angry and hurting, and I lashed out at the guys, Remus especially, because he seemed like he knew too much. He finally admitted he could smell her on me, which only made sense because she'd done it again that morning. I hadn't even had a chance to shower before going to King's Cross." Rosalee choked on a sob, slowly sitting down on the ground, struggling to breathe. Sirius reached out a hand to her, and she flinched away from him. "You're even worse now than you were when you first moved here," Sirius said quietly. "Remus said that every second you've spent awake with him, other than hugging him immediately after the rescue, you won't let him touch you. You jump at every sudden movement and loud noise. You yell at him for no reason; you refuse to be backed into a corner, and try to keep an eye on everyone in the room at all times. You're acting like me, and I bet Remus and I can guess the reason."

"Drop it, Sirius," Rosalee begged. "Please."

"Greyback raped you, didn't he?" Sirius pressed.

Rosalee couldn't speak, tears paralyzing her vocal chords, so she simply nodded. Sirius moved closer, then suddenly disappeared, a large black dog appearing in his place. He put his front paws in her lap and stuffed his snout in her face, and she latched onto him, throwing her arms around his neck and burying her face in his fur as she cried, her whole body shaking violently. Sirius whined, offering her the best comfort he knew how in his Padfoot form, knowing that a dog would help her far more than a man would right now. Rosalee clung tightly to him, unable to stop the flow of tears and the tight, painful feeling in her chest. She wasn't sure how long they stayed there like that; it felt like hours, but it couldn't have been very long because no one disturbed them. She finally managed to stop crying and pulled back from him, but her hands never left his fur. She continued petting Padfoot as she mumbled, "Please, don't make me talk about it. I can't handle it. It was so… Merlin, it was horrible. Every day for two weeks, sometimes more than once a day… He was so strong, and I couldn't do any magic. I couldn't fight him." Rosalee shook her head as tears flooded her eyes again. "I can't deal with it yet, Padfoot. Please don't make me. _Please_."

Sirius transformed under her fingers, leaving them tangled in his shoulder-length black hair instead of black fur, startling Rosalee. She didn't move as he said gently, "Of course, we won't make you. We'll never make you do anything. We just want you to know that we are here for you when you are ready to talk."

Rosalee nodded as Remus suddenly called from the back door, "Dinner's ready!"

Sirius called back, "Yeah, coming!" He stood and helped Rosalee up, asking, "Are you ok?"

Rosalee thought about that for a moment. "No," she answered truthfully. "But I can hold it together for now."

Sirius nodded. "That's a familiar feeling," he muttered. "It's all going to be ok. He'll never touch you again."

As they walked to the back door where Remus stood waiting, Rosalee nodded. Her fiance let her walk past him but grabbed Sirius's arm and stopped him. She walked into the kitchen, she could hear Remus saying in hushed tones, "Was I right? Did he —"

"Yes," Sirius growled, the sound originating deep in his throat. "A lot."

"I'll kill him," Remus snarled, his words so violent they made Rosalee flinch as she washed her hands at the kitchen sink, trying and failing to pretend she wasn't listening to them. His fury made his voice sound nearly inhuman, reminding Rosalee of Greyback and making her drop the bar of soap and scramble to recover it.

"You do that, Moony," Sirius said, getting a little louder. "Just don't push her on it. She's not ready to deal with it."

Remus was quiet a moment. "I can't stand to see her in this much pain and do nothing to help her," he lamented. His anguish brought tears to Rosalee's eyes again, and she blinked them away forcefully, unwilling to fall apart again. "You talked to me about it that first night I saw you. Why won't she talk to me? Or at least you; can't she talk to you about it?"

"Moony," Sirius said. Rosalee couldn't see them with her back to them, but she could just imagine Sirius with his hand on Remus's shoulder as he spoke. "She's not me. She's reacting differently than I did because she's a different person. You know me, you've always had trouble getting me to shut up about anything and everything. It takes a little digging to get at some things, but you get there. She's different. She's trying to bury this memory so deep that no one could ever get to it, not even with one of those Muggle digging machines. She's struggling to cope. Let her figure out how to handle this on her own. Don't force it, or she's gonna resent you forever just like Greyback."

A shiver of fear raced down her spine at the mention of the old werewolf's name. As she dried her hands, she heard Remus growl, "From the second we got to Hogwarts, I realized I could smell Greyback all over her. Not just like he'd been touching her, but like the stench was radiating from inside her out into the air. When she fell asleep and Madame Pomfrey told me about having done a rape kit on her and the results, I… Well, I went and totally destroyed an entire room."

"I'm sorry, Remus," Sirius said seriously.

Remus shook his head, sighing. "I'll give her some space for now," he said tiredly, and Rosalee could practically see him lean back against the door frame, dragging a hand down his face. "But we've got to talk about it eventually. First her time on the run, then the miscarriage, and now this? It's too much all at once for her to take, and it's affecting me too. I don't want this to get buried so deep that she becomes too afraid to uncover it."

Sirius was nodding as Rosalee turned around. Hope Lupin appeared in front of Rosalee suddenly, making her jump. "Sorry, sweetheart; I didn't mean to startle you," Hope said sweetly. Remus's mother had been nothing but cheerful since Rosalee had arrived that morning, and it helped steady the churning in the young girl's stomach that had seemed constant before. "Remus said your favorite was spaghetti, so that's what we made for dinner tonight."

Rosalee smiled slightly. "Thank you. You didn't have to do that," she said softly.

Hope waved the comment away with a smile. "It's no trouble," Hope insisted. "Come on, now; let's eat."


End file.
